Cat Stevens still barred from U.S

[gldstwmn]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/ap...=Cat%20Stevens

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- The singer formerly known as Cat Stevens is still barred from entering the United States because of terror intelligence that identifies him as a security threat.

"The intelligence is the same. The reasons we rejected him several months ago still exist in my mind," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Thursday of Yusuf Islam, the "Peace Train" singer who largely gave up music after converting to Islam in the late 1970s.

Yusuf Islam was removed from a London-to-Washington flight in September because of suspected links to terrorists - a claim he has strongly denied.

In November, he was awarded the "Man for Peace" prize in Rome by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who praised him for charity work and standing by his convictions despite personal hardships.