LONDON, Sept 22 (AFP) - British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has complained to his US counterpart Colin Powell about the deportation from the United States of former pop star Cat Stevens as a possible terrorist risk, a report said Wednesday.
Straw, in New York for United Nations meetings, had spoken to Secretary of State Powell about the imminent removal of the British musician, his spokesman was quoted as saying by Britain's domestic Press Association (PA) news agency.
"He (Straw) heard the reports of the incident involving Cat Stevens," the spokesman was cited as saying by PA. "He did say to the Secretary of State that this action should not have been taken".
Stevens, who sold many millions of records before abandoning his pop career when he became a Muslim in the late 1970s, changing his name to Yusuf Islam, was due to be sent back to Britain later Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a United Airlines flight from London to Washington was diverted to Bangor, Maine, after US authorities discovered that Islam was aboard.
His name appeared on several terrorism "watch lists" and he was rejected entry by US authorities, an official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"We refused him on national security grounds," the official said.
"In London, United Airlines missed the fact that he was on the watch list and allowed him to board the flight," he said.
Islam was denied entry to Israel in 2000 over suspicions that he had given money to the radical Palestinian group Hamas. The singer has consistently denied supporting terrorism.
PA cited unnamed British officials as saying there was no evidence known to the country's intelligence services that the former singer posed any danger.
The decision was also slammed as divisive by Islamic groups in Britain.
Islam, who has been a vocal campaigner for the establishment of faith-based Muslim schools in Britain, was "a very moderate man", the Muslim Council of Britain's deputy general secretary, Mohammad Abdul Bari, said.
"We are really appalled at what is happening," said Bari, who later held talks on the issue with junior Foreign Office minister Douglas Alexander.
"It is a slap in the face of sanity. If prominent, well-known personalities are treated like this, then how can there be bridge building?"
The Muslim Association of Britain, another leading Islamic group, also condemned the decision, saying it followed a move last month to prevent an Islamic professor taking up a teaching post in the United States.
Spokesman Anas Altikriti said such actions prevented "open, constructive and positive dialogue" between the United States and Muslims around the world.
"It seems that the US officials would rather that the untrue and distorted images of Islam and Muslims persist in the minds of its own citizens," he said.