The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens was forced to leave the country Wednesday on a flight out of Logan International Airport because he was recently placed on several "watch lists" for possible links to terrorists, federal officials said.
The 56-year-old pop singer, who changed his name to Yusuf Islam after becoming a Muslim, was aboard a London-to-Washington flight that was abruptly diverted to Bangor, Maine, on Tuesday afternoon after federal officials learned he was among the passengers. He was flagged "because of concerns about activities that could potentially be related to terrorism," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. "Also, more recently, the intelligence community has come into possession of additional information that further heightens the concerns of Islam," the statement said.
Federal officials would not provide details of what activities had raised concerns about the man who became a pop star in the 1960s and 1970s with hits such as "Wild World," "Morning Has Broken," and "Peace Train," only to abandon his career after converting to Islam in the late 1970s.
But Muslim groups in the United States and Britain criticized federal authorities for its treatment of Islam, a high-profile peace activist who has used profits from his famous songs to form charities, establish four Islamic schools in London, and give money to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as well as to children in Iraq.
Islam had been in the United States twice in the last year without incident, first in February to speak at a United Nations conference and then in May to promote his new DVD of his last North American tour in 1976.
The Council of American-Islamic Relations, the largest Islamic civil liberties group in the United States, called upon the Bush administration Wednesday to give greater explanation for why Islam was deported.
The group compared his case to that of Tariq Ramadan, a Muslim scholar who was supposed to begin teaching at the University of Notre Dame this fall, but was denied entry to the United States. The council suggested that the policy is "not the way to win the hearts and minds of Muslims worldwide."
"When internationally-respected Islamic personalities like Yusuf Islam and Professor Tariq Ramadan are denied entry to the United States, it sends the disturbing message that even moderate and mainstream Muslims will now be treated like terrorists," CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.
Anas Altikriti, a spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain, added in an interview, "It does seem more and more that those voicing dissenting views on US foreign policy will be forbidden from entering the country." A statement posted on Islam's Web site said that "he will be shocked and angered at being associated with anyone who commits acts of violence" and said that any suggestion he is connected to terrorists "is totally denied as it is simply wrong."
Still it is not the first time that Islam has been accused of having suspected ties to terrorists. In 2000, Islam was deported from Israel while filming in Jerusalem with a crew from the VH1 program "Behind the Music," which was chronicling his life. Israeli officials accused Islam of delivering funds to the extremist Islamic group Hamas during a 1988 trip to Israel.
Later, Islam denied the allegations and told reporters, "I never knowingly gave any terrorist group money. I've helped to buy ambulances in the Holy Land. Obviously quite clear and supportable aims. I have no affiliation with any organization such as Hamas."
Islam was criticized in 1989 when he was quoted in a news article supporting the Ayatollah Khomeini's death sentence against author Salman Rushdie for writing "The Satanic Verses." But Islam insisted that he had been misquoted.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the terrorist attack this month on the school in Beslan, Russia, that killed hundreds, including many children, Islam condemned the bloodshed in statements issued on his Web site.
But recently, said a Transportation Security Administration official, Islam's name was added to a "no-fly" list, a compilation of the names of people who are forbidden entry into the United States because they are on a watch list of people with suspected links to terrorists. The "no-fly" lists are distributed to all of the major airline carriers by the TSA.
Jeff Green, a spokesman for United Airlines, said that when Islam boarded United Flight 919 at London's Heathrow Airport on Tuesday, his passenger information was cross-checked with the "no-fly" list provided by the government, but there did not appear to be a match so he was allowed to board.
"We have an approved program that meets the requirements of the US government for cross-checking passengers against government no-fly lists and we followed all approved procedures for doing so at London Heathrow," Green said.
But as the plane was flying over the Atlantic Ocean, a passenger list sent to US Customs and Border Protection was cross-checked against various watch lists, leading to the discovery that Islam was barred from coming to the United States, according to homeland security officials.
The flight was diverted to Bangor, Maine, where Islam was interviewed by FBI and Customs agents, then driven to Boston Tuesday night, to be deported on the next available flight back home, officials said. -->
He left the way he came, on a United Airlines flight. It left Boston shortly after 3 p.m., connected at Washington Dulles International Airport, then flew on to London.