Cat Stevens is a Terrorist!

[CosmicPal]

Ok...not really.

But, the peace loving convert diverted a plane to NY.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3678694.stm

A security alert involving the singer who used to be known as Cat Stevens has forced a London-to-Washington flight to be diverted to another US airport.
The plane was already in the air when US officials identified that the singer, whose name is now Yusuf Islam, was on one of their "watch lists".

United Airlines Flight 919 was diverted 600 miles (1000km), landing in Maine.

After an interview, the singer - who converted to Islam in 1977 - was denied entry into the US.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials said the access was denied "on national security grounds", without giving any further details.

Yusuf Islam is now expected to be put on a flight out of America later on Wednesday.

Four years ago, Mr Islam was deported from Israel over allegations that he backed militant Muslims.

Yusuf Islam was born Stephen Demetre Georgiou in London to a Greek Cypriot father and Swedish mother.

Since abandoning a successful music career in the late 1970s, he has devoted himself to advocating and teaching Islam.

One high-profile activity was the founding of a Muslim school in London.

[seclark]

no seats on the peace train?
sec

[FloridaChief]

Oh baby, baby it's a wild world...

[Rain Man]

I bet now he's being followed by a shadow, and it's probably not a moon shadow.

[Eleazar]

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/...0922_2346.html

a more thorough explaination.

Seems there are questions about him delivering money to Hamas?

[jAZ]

Originally Posted by CosmicPal

Ok...not really.

Actually...

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/...0922_2346.html

U.S. Says Cat Stevens May Have Terror Ties

Singer Cat Stevens on No-Fly List Because of Possible Ties to Terrorists, Government Says

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Sept. 22, 2004 — The singer formerly known as Cat Stevens is forbidden from flying into the United States because of his alleged association with possible terrorists, U.S. officials said Wednesday in explaining why a London-to-Washington flight carrying the peace activist was diverted.

The claim was disputed by the brother of the London-born singer, who changed his name to Yusuf Islam more than 25 years ago.

David Gordon said his brother has condemned terrorist acts and donates money to terrorism victims. "He just wants to be an ambassador for peace," said Gordon, who lives in Princeton, N.J., and serves as Islam's business manager.

In London, Mohammad Abdul Bari, deputy general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, called the incident "a slap in the face of sanity" that will damage U.S. relations with Muslims.

"If prominent, well-known personalities are treated like this, then how can there be bridge building," said Bari, adding that Islam is a well respected member of Britain's Muslim community.

United Airlines Flight 919 was en route to Dulles International Airport on Tuesday when U.S. officials reviewing the passenger list discovered Islam was aboard. The aircraft was diverted to Maine's Bangor International Airport, where federal agents met the plane and interviewed Islam.

He was placed on a plane back to London on Wednesday. Gordon said Islam's 21-year-old daughter, Maymanah, was allowed to stay in the country.

Meantime, there was confusion about how someone on the government's "no-fly list" was allowed to board a plane. Airline personnel are supposed to check passengers' names against people on the list. Anyone who matches is to be kept off flights.

United spokesman Jeff Green said the airline followed procedures in checking Islam's name, and it wasn't on the list.

"The information did not match," Green said.

Green and Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy said the airline and the government are working together to figure out what happened. It's possible Islam's name was spelled differently on the list, Homeland Security officials conceded.

Under rules imposed following the Sept. 11 attacks, once an international flight is bound for the United States, passenger information is forwarded to U.S. officials. The amount of data varies, but can include name, address, flight details, seat location, form of payment and meal preference.

U.S. authorities use the information to run a more thorough check against government watch lists. That's when authorities discovered that Islam was on the plane.

Unlike airline workers, law enforcement officers are trained to look for names that sound like those on the watch list or are spelled differently than the ones on the watch list, Homeland Security spokesman Garrison Courtney said.

The Transportation Security Administration, which is part of the Homeland Security Department, announced plans Tuesday to take over the task of checking names against watch lists before passengers get on planes. The agency is developing a computerized system that will compare passenger data with the watch lists for domestic flights only.

U.S. authorities provided few details about Islam's alleged connection to terrorism.

Homeland Security spokesman Brian Doyle would only say that the intelligence community has recently obtained information that "further heightens concern" about Islam.

"Yusuf Islam has been placed on the watch lists because of activities that could potentially be related to terrorism," Doyle said. "It's a serious matter."

A second government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. authorities think donations from Islam may have ended up helping to fund blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted for a plot to bomb New York City landmarks, and Hamas, a Palestinian militant group considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

In July 2000, Islam was deported hours after arriving in Jerusalem. A local paper reported then that the government claimed he had delivered tens of thousands of dollars to Hamas during a visit in 1988. Islam denied ever knowingly supporting Islamic terrorists.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations at a news conference Wednesday said the deportation "sends a message to the Islamic world that even those who seek peace and condemn terror are not fit to enter the United States."

Islam, born Stephen Georgiou, took Cat Stevens as a stage name and had a string of hits in the 1960s and '70s, including "Wild World" and "Morning Has Broken." Last year he released two songs, including a re-recording of his hit "Peace Train," to express his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

He abandoned his music career in the late 1970s and changed his name after being persuaded by orthodox Muslim teachers that his lifestyle was forbidden by Islamic law.

[Ugly Duck]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I bet now he's being followed by a shadow, and it's probably not a moon shadow.

[Pants]

Who is Cat Stevens?

[Ugly Duck]

Originally Posted by Metrolike

Who is Cat Stevens?

"Peace Train"

Now I've been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun

Oh I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, some day it's going to come

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again

Now I've been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun

Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train
Come on now peace train
Yes, peace train holy roller

Everyone jump upon the peace train
Come on now peace train

Get your bags together, go bring your good friends too
Cause it's getting nearer, it soon will be with you

Now come and join the living, it's not so far from you
And it's getting nearer, soon it will all be true

Now I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can't we live in bliss

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again

[alanm]

An Italian curse on everyone of you guys for mentioning his pukey songs which will now be running thru my brain as I try to sleep tonight. Damn you all!!!!

[Ugly Duck]

Originally Posted by alanm

An Italian curse on everyone of you guys for mentioning his pukey songs which will now be running thru my brain as I try to sleep tonight. Damn you all!!!!

"Peace train holy roller

jump on the peace train"

Now you got me doing it!! Arrggghhh!!!

[Ugly Duck]

Dear alamn:

"Morning has broken like the first morning,
blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for them singing, praise for the morning,
praise for them springing, fresh from the world."

and,

"But if you want to leave take good care
Hope you have a lot of nice things to wear
But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there
Oh, baby, baby it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl"

[FloridaChief]

I wonder how Salman Rushdie feels about all this?

[el borracho]

All jokes aside, it would really disturb me if Cat Stevens was determined to have terrorist connections.