BBC News Online: World: Middle East

Israel bans former pop star

The former pop singer had attempted to enter Israel, after previously being barred in 1990, arriving at 0230 local time.

However, airport authorities detained him after officials discovered his name on a list of people banned from entering the country

Israeli officials refused to comment on the case, but speaking on Israeli television, he alleged that immigration officials had mistreated him.

Yusuf Islam reportedly told an Israeli entertainment show: "They locked me in a two-metre by two-metre cell without water or a bathroom, and then deported me.

"I don't see any reason for this to happen in a time of peace."

Airport authorities denied that he was mistreated, according to Israeli newspaper Maariv.

They said he was kept in the departure lounge until the plane he arrived on returned to Germany.

Government claims

Yusuf Islam, 51, changed his name after becoming a Muslim in the late 1970s, and last visited Israel in 1988.

The government claims that during that trip, he delivered tens of thousands of dollars to Hamas, a militant Islamic group.

Two years later, in 1990, he tried to enter again along with his eight-year-old son but was turned away.

The singer, who was born Stephen Georgiou, took Cat Stevens as a stage name and had a string of hits, including Matthew and Son, Morning Has Broken and Moonshadow in the 1960s and 1970s.

He abandoned his music career in 1977 after being persuaded by orthodox Muslim teachers that his lifestyle was forbidden by Islamic law.

He later began teaching and actively promoting Islam worldwide, founding a Muslim school in 1983.

The former peformer also made headlines when he supported the death sentence issued by Iran against author Salman Rushdie.