Cat Stevens gets peace prize
Last Updated Wed, 10 Nov 2004 14:17:39 EST
ROME - Cat Stevens, the singer known for hits like Peace Train, has been honoured with a peace prize from former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Gorbachev gave Stevens – who has gone by the name Yusuf Islam since he became a Muslim in the late 1970s – the Man for Peace award in Rome Thursday ahead of a gathering of Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
Cat Stevens in Rome Thursday (AP photo)
Gorbachev praised Stevens for his charity work and "for having condemned terrorism."
In September, the British musician was barred from flying into the United States after his name appeared on the Bush administration's no-fly list of people with suspected terrorist ties.
Steven strongly denies any such links.
"Perhaps it's part of the irony that sometimes you have to go through a test in order to achieve a prize," he said, a reference to being forced to leave the States after his London-to-Washington flight was diverted to Maine to remove him.
"So maybe that's a symbol. Today I'm receiving a prize for peace, which is actually, I would say, a bit more descriptive of my ideas and my aims in life."
Stevens says the incident was the result of "an unjust and arbitrary system," and that his lawyers are trying to resolve the matter with U.S. authorities.
"The destiny of this man is not simple," Gorbachev said in making the presentation. "Any person who makes a stand to better the world is bound to live a life of hardship."
Stevens is the chairman of Small Kindness, a charity devoted to raising money for children and families affected by poverty and war in places like the Middle East. The organization has also given money to those affected by the Sept. 11 attacks.
Stevens had hits with light-rock tunes like Peace Train, Morning has Broken and Moonshadow before converting to Islam in 1977.
The meeting of Nobel winners is an annual event organized by Gorbachev's foundation.
Gorbachev is the former communist who presided over the final day of the Soviet Union. Other attendees include Solidarity founder Lech Walesa and Kim Dae-jung, the former president of South Korea.
Written by CBC News Online staff
http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/nationa...ens041110.html
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As stated last month, Stevens was considered suspect of having terrorist ties and barred from the U.S.
How does this sit with Americans, especially those critical of supposed sweeping measures regarding personal rights infringements in the name of preventing terror by the Bush administration?
Even though this is one person of notoriety, does it make the Bush administration seem overly zealous now since Stevens wins a peace award? Or is this racial/religious profiling at it's finest?
Will Gorbachev ever be allowed in the U.S again for purportedly covorting with and honouring a person with suspected terrorist ties?