Posted on 09/21/2004 7:05:56 PM PDT by blogblogginaway
WASHINGTON - A plane bound for Washington from London was diverted to Maine on Tuesday after passenger Yusuf Islam formerly known as pop singer Cat Stevens (news) showed up on a U.S. watch list, federal officials said.
United Airlines Flight 919 had already taken off from London en route to Dulles International Airport when the match was made between the passenger and the watch list, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration.
The plane was met by federal agents at Maine's Bangor International Airport around 3 p.m., Melendez said.
Federal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the individual as Islam.
One official said Islam, 56, was identified by the Advanced Passenger Information System, which requires airlines to send passenger information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's National Targeting Center. TSA was then contacted and requested that the plane land at the nearest airport, the official said.
"He was interviewed and denied admission to the United States on national security grounds," said Homeland Security spokesman Dennis Murphy. He said the man would be put on the first available flight out of the country Wednesday.
Islam, who was 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 '70s hit "Peace Train," to express his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites).
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Blue Suede Shoes, hmm... Carl, Elvis, Roy, Johnny and some poppers.
Your Cheatin' Heart, hmmm, Hank, Ray, LeAnn's are the only copies that I've got.
Thanks.
Get right. Kerry is his stepfather. Heinz IV and his wife, are very private people. Lets leave it that way.
His comment was to the effect that "All politicians are corrupt and I don't want to get involved in any of it."
He's educated and honest.
Official: Cat Stevens on watch list because of possible tie to terrorists [Hamas, Abdel-Rahman]
...snip...
The government official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said Islam was placed on a watch list after multiple intelligence sources in recent weeks indicated the peace activist may have associations with potential terrorists.
snip
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, who was convicted for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Hamas, a Palestinian militant group considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel.
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.
I just did a little web-surfing and found out that Clint Holmes, who did "Playground In My Mind" was born in England. Maybe he can be deported too!
I don't have a problem with deporting foreigners "just because".
Were he a U.S. citizen, then all those allegations would have to be proven in a court of law.
Besides the ones you mentioned, he is also accused (in the press) of supporting the Fatwa against Salman Rushdie.
And speaking of "ain't no one for to give you no pain", here's a snippet from ex-member Dan Peek's website regarding the Catster in his "pre-Islam, peacenik hippie" days:
Cat Stevens laughed. He laughed real hard. I remember him laughing twice. The first time was the night he invited us all to dinner in Vienna. We were at a posh fish restaurant and the waiter brought out a 10 pound steelhead. Cat or Steve as he is called in "real life" leaned over and sucked the eyeball out of the plated whole fish. He then turned and spat it neatly in Jeff Dexter's face. See Cat, see Cat laugh.
The next time was at the end of the 30 date tour. We were checking into our last hotel, a very nice place with a grand gift shop in the lobby. "Cat" went straight in and plunked down $1,500 for a spanking new Nikon camera and spent the next 20 minutes taking pictures of Dewey, Gerry and me, some with him in them, using the timer. We were so flattered at this new kinder, gentler Cat Stevens. As his tour manager came up and handed him his room key after having checked us all in, "Cat" turned to us and smiled broadly, opening the camera and showing us there had been no film for his little photo shoot. Then he laughed real hard.
http://www.danpeek.com/bio/ep_18.htm
The Little River Band wins by a country mile. At least this other stuff is funny.
How about Jains?
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