Stevens deportation 'a slap in the face'

The refusal to allow singer Yusuf Islam into the US on national security grounds was a “slap in the face of sanity”, a Muslim group said today.

The star, formerly known as Cat Stevens, was stopped from flying into Washington yesterday after his name appeared on a security watchlist.

His plane was diverted 600 miles to another airport where Islam was questioned. He was being detained there today ahead of being sent back to Britain.

Islam has become a prominent member of the UK Muslim community since abandoning his pop career and changing his name in the 1970s to devote himself to charity work and peace campaigning.

He is head of the Islamia Schools trust and has met British Prime Minister Tony Blair as well as Prince Charles and the UK's home secretary David Blunkett in his new role.

The schools are affiliated to the Muslim Council of Britain, whose deputy general secretary Mohammad Abdul Bari expressed anger today at what had happened.

Dr Bari said: “He is a very moderate man. We have absolutely no idea why this has happened. He is very well respected in the Muslim community.

“We are really appalled at what is happening. It is a slap in the face of sanity. If prominent, well-known personalities are treated like this, then how can there be bridge-building?”

Islam and his daughter were escorted off the diverted United Airlines flight 919 at Bangor International Airport in Maine yesterday.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said he was denied access to the US “on national security grounds” and would be returned to Britain today.

He had been allowed to board the flight in London after airline officials failed to spot his name on the list.

US Customs and Border Protection officers spotted the match after the flight had taken off, and ordered the diversion.

Passengers, who included British pop group Marillion, were first told the diversion was for refuelling and eventually arrived in Washington six hours late.

Islam, who was denied access to Israel four years ago, was detained and questioned, but his 21-year-old daughter was allowed into the US.

A TSA spokeswoman said he was refused entry under the Immigration and Naturalisation Act “based on national security grounds”.

A spokesman for Islamia Schools expressed disbelief today at what had happened.

He said: “Everyone who has heard the news has been pretty sympathetic. He is more famed now as a peace activist than he was as a singer.”

The Muslim Association of Britain condemned the decision by the US authorities, which followed a move last month to prevent an Islamic professor taking up a teaching post in America.

Spokesman Anas Altikriti said such actions prevented “open, constructive and positive dialogue” between the US and Muslims around the world.

He added: “It seems that the US officials would rather that the untrue and distorted images of Islam and Muslims persist in the minds of its own citizens.”

As Cat Stevens, Yusuf Islam had a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, including Wild World and Morning Has Broken but abandoned his music career and his name in the late 1970s.

Last year he released two songs, including a re-recording of his 1970s hit Peace Train, to express his opposition to the war in Iraq.

Apart from his schools work, he has also founded a charity raising money for orphans and familes afflicted by war in areas such as Kosovo, Bosnia, and Iraq.

In July 2000, Stevens was denied entry to Israel amid reports that he had donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Islamic terrorist group, Hamas.

In a statement released by his record label Universal Music at the time, he said: “I want to make sure that people are aware that I’ve never ever knowingly supported any terrorist groups – past, present or future.”