---

AFP, France
Nov. 10, 2004
story.news.yahoo.com

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 9364 • Posted: Friday November 12, 2004  

---

ROME (AFP) – Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev presented singer-songwriter Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, with a peace prize, two months after he was refused entry to the United States on “national security grounds”.

The “Man for Peace 2004″ prize was presented at a ceremony in Rome city hall marking the opening of the Fifth World Nobel Summit, an annual gathering here of Nobel peace laureates led by Gorbachev, who won the prize in 1990.

The award is given annually “to a distinguished personage of culture and entertainment for peace messages, fraternity and integration between nations”.

The 57-year-old singer said rock and roll had contributed to the development of society “in the strangest ways, expressing the necessity to abolish taboos and to move forward, but also in giving young people the possibility to express their hopes and weaknesses”.

“For me it was a way of expressing my ideals for a better world,” added the singer, best known for mellow 1970s hits as “Morning has Broken,” “Wild World” and “Peace Train”. He converted to the Muslim faith in 1977.

Gorbachev used the occasion to call on fellow Nobel peace laureates present in Rome — including Shimon Peres, Lech Walesa, Rigoberta Menchu, Adolfo Perez Esquivel and Jose Ramos Horta — “to write a letter to all the other Nobel winners in order to propose initiatives which can facilitate the process of peace in the world”.

Islam was recognized for his charity “Small Kindness”, which works to alleviate the suffering of children and their parents in countries hit by war and has so far assisted thousands of people in Kosovo, Bosnia, Albania, Montenegro and Iraq.

A previous winner of the “Man for Peace” award was Italian actor and filmmaker Roberto Benigni for his film “Life is Beautiful”.

Islam was deported from the United States last September after being denied entry on “security grounds” and was released without charge. He was travelling to the US capital when his flight was diverted to Bangor, Maine where he was detained before being transferred later to Washington for his flight back to his native Britain.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Islam Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Islam Read Another Article Previous entry: Afghanistan wants its ‘Dead Sea Scrolls of Buddhism’ back from UK Next entry: Report: leader of unofficial church arrested as part of new crackdown RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Islam Most Popular Today I know the dark side of Scientology…I almost lost my friend when she became obsessed with it ‘Cult’ program in NYC schools Indictment against rabbi Elior Chen: Shook, beat, fed children feces Church of Scientology told to drop Churchill images

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.