Cat Stevens Treated Like A Terrorist By US Government

I think Pheonix has a point. I can just imagine a young Osama bin Laden listening cross legged on the floor to "morning has broken" and deciding to destroy western civilisation.

What other records of mass destruction has he been quitely recording these last decades? He might be about to release them on an unsuspecting populace. Better safe than sorry.

Ever since going into hiding after 1988's The Satanic Verses provoked the Ayatollah's fatwa (and death threats from another Muslim zealot, the erstwhile Cat Stevens), Rushdie has been busy

1990: Iranian leader upholds Rushdie fatwa
Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said the death sentence on writer Salman Rushdie for alleged blasphemy will remain in force.
He rejected the author's repentance and recent decision not to publish a paperback edition of the novel The Satanic Verses which was deemed offensive to the Islamic faith.

Tehran Radio quoted Ayatollah Khameini as saying the decree by his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini "remains unchanged even if he repents and becomes the most pious man of his time".

The Indian-born novelist has been in hiding under police guard since Ayatollah Khomeini ordered his death 22 months ago.

Cav

What did Mr Islam say about Mr Rushdie that he felt he had to retract?

Anyone who seriously advocates killing an author for what he writes is going to have trouble regaining any credibility even if he does change his mind.

So the stupid crap you did as a kid or a teenager that you now regret, being older and wiser, should be held against you? Interesting theory

So the stupid crap you did as a kid or a teenager that you now regret, being older and wiser, should be held against you? Interesting theory

Born: Jul 21, 1947 in London, England

On December 23, 1977, Stevens formally became a Muslim and adopted the name Yusuf Islam. Notwithstanding this change, there was an eleventh and final Cat Stevens album, Back to Earth, released in December 1978; it sold modestly. With that, Yusuf Islam retired from the pop music business. He entered into an arranged marriage that eventually produced five children, auctioned off his possessions, and founded a Muslim school near London. He was not widely heard from for another ten years, until he shocked admirers at the end of the '80s by supporting the death sentence ordered by the Ayatollah Khomeini against novelist Salman Rushdie for writing the book -The Satanic Verses.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Cat%20Stevens:1927004768:page=biography

September 22, 2004
Cat Stevens Detained, 70s Stars Vie to Get on Watch List
(2004-09-22) -- After the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens (TSFKACS) was detained by federal agents in Bangor, Maine, as he attempted to enter the United States, other 1970s pop stars lobbied to get their names included on the Department of Homeland Security's terrorist watch list.

"Cat Stevens shouldn't be grabbing all the glory and the royalties," said Terry Jacks, whose hit "Seasons in the Sun" captivated the nation in 1974. "There are others out there you know -- T. Rex, Helen Reddy, Rick Derringer -- many of them are still alive. Each of us deserves a place on the terrorist watch list, and the publicity that comes with it."

Homeland Security czar Tom Ridge said his department is currently considering requests for inclusion on the watch list from the following: Carl Douglas ('Kung Fu Fighting'), Stealers Wheel ('Stuck in the Middle with You'), Van McCoys ('The Hustle'), Gary Wright ('Dream Weaver'), John Sebastian ('Welcome Back'), Van Morrison ('Moondance') and Nick Gilder ('Hot Child in the City').

"Now that we have the Cat formerly known as Stevens in custody," said Mr. Ridge, "Other former pop stars will be reluctant to try to penetrate our borders. We've sent a clear signal to potential singer/terrorists: If you try to export your brand of music/terror here, you'll end up cooling your heels in Bangor, Maine."