posted November 10, 2004 05:06 PM            

ROME (Nov. 10) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev honored the singer once known as Cat Stevens with a peace prize on Wednesday, praising him for charity work and for standing by his convictions despite personal hardships.

Yusuf Islam was awarded the "Man for Peace'' award in Rome at the opening of a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates. He last made headlines in September, when he turned up on Washington's no-fly list for having suspected ties to terrorists - a claim he has strongly denied.

The "Peace Train'' singer, who largely gave up music after converting to Islam in the late 1970s, mused about the strangeness of being barred from one country while being honored in another.

"Perhaps it's part of the irony that sometimes you have to go through a test in order to achieve a prize,'' he told reporters. "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.''

The British musician was expelled from the United States in September after authorities diverted his London-to-Washington flight to Maine to remove him, saying he was suspected of ties to terrorism.

Islam said he was a victim of an "unjust and arbitrary system,'' and that he has denounced terrorism. He also pointed out that just a few months beforehand, he had met with officials of the White House's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to talk about philanthropy.

Gorbachev's foundation and Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni's office, which presented the award, praised Islam for promoting peace and "for having condemned terrorism.''

The former Soviet leader alluded to the musician's troubles.

"Cat Stevens' life has not been simple,'' Gorbachev said. "Every person who takes a critical stance to make the world a better place... has a difficult life.'' The two men kissed each other on the cheek as Gorbachev handed over the prize.

The musician is the founder of Small Kindness, a charity to raise money for children and families suffering from poverty and war in the Balkans and Middle East. It has also donated money to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and to the fight against AIDS in South Africa.

Islam has largely shunned music in recent years, although he did record a new version of his 1971 hit "Peace Train'' last year for the album ``Hope,'' which raised money for Iraqi children.

The meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, which ends Friday, is organized every year in Rome by the Gorbachev Foundation. Besides Gorbachev, other Nobel winners present included Lech Walesa, the founder of Poland's Solidarity democracy movement; Rigoberta Menchu Tum, who fought government oppression in Guatemala; and former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

Islam said he was honored to be attending - "not as a rock 'n' roller, but as someone who is sharing a platform with these noble examples.''

Other recipients of the "Man for Peace'' award include Italian actor-director Roberto Benigni, who won in 2002. Benigni directed the Oscar-winning "Life is Beautiful.''

11/10/04 09:36 EST

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So there!

posted November 10, 2004 05:10 PM            

American Al Qaida Unmasked?
Californian Thought to Be 'Azzam the American'

By BRIAN ROSS and DAVID SCOTT, ABCNews.com

(Nov. 9) - U.S. officials believe with a high degree of confidence that a missing Southern Californian, Adam Gadahn, is the self-described American al Qaeda who threatened to kill thousands of his countrymen in a videotape obtained and broadcast by ABC News two weeks ago.

"No, my fellow countrymen you are guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty," the man identified only as "Azzam the American" said. "After decades of American tyranny and oppression, now it's your turn to die. Allah willing, the streets of America will run red with blood matching drop for drop the blood of America's victims."

A senior U.S. official says officials concluded that Azzam the American was Gadahn after speaking to his family in Southern California, showing the tape to captured al Qaeda operatives, and conducting weeks of technical analysis. Although all indications are of a positive match, officials do caution that there is a small margin of error in the analysis and they cannot be absolutely certain of the speaker's identity.

Among other steps, intelligence officials compared the voice of Azzam to footage of a teenage Gadahn discussing environmental projects nearly 10 years ago on a cable television segment in California. Gadahn, who would now be 26, is wanted for questioning by the FBI in connection with possible terrorist threats against the United States.

FBI Director Robert Mueller said in a May press conference that Gadahn was associated with al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan, and that he attended terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.

"He is known to have performed translations for al Qaeda as part of the services he has provided to al Qaeda," Mueller said.

"He's so angry at the United States, that he's obligated to seek revenge," said Jack Cloonan, a former FBI agent who is now ABC News consultant.

Gadahn was born Adam Pearlman, the son of 1960s psychedelic musician Phil Pearlman, and raised in Orange County on a goat farm. He was home-schooled until the age of 15, at which point he moved in with his grandparents in Santa Ana.

Six years ago, Gadahn left California for Karachi, Pakistan, where his parents last heard from him in the months after Sept. 11, 2001. He never kept up a regular correspondence, his father said, and seemed to be making a life for himself when he last called in February of 2002.

"He had got married and was settling down and it didn't seem like he was involved in anything like this as far as we could tell," Pearlman said.

After first denying it, officials say the parents admitted to FBI agents that the person on the tape could be their son.

Aunt Nancy Pearlman said Gadahn was just a typical teenager with shifting interests. "Adam was a very loving, caring, intelligent young man," she said. "He was listening to hard rock music. He gave that up when he got religious."

At the age of 17, Gadahn posted a statement online about his conversion to Islam called "Becoming Muslim." Rejecting what he called his obsession with demonic heavy metal music, Gadahn rejected evangelical Christianity and found a home in Islam.

"I discovered the beliefs and practices of this religion fit my personal theology and intellect as well as basic human logic," he wrote. "Islam presents God not as an anthropomorphic being but as an entity beyond human comprehension, transcendent of man, independent and undivided."

Gadahn attended a local mosque in Orange County, from which he was expelled from after attacking an employee.

The imam of the mosque, Haitham Bundjaki, said he recognized the voice on the al Qaeda tape as Gadahn's.

"Unfortunately, I know the guy," Bundjaki said. "He thought I was too Americanized. Of course, he's an American. The few people he was with I think they put things in his head that led him to be that way."

11-10-04 08:37 EST

This FBI alert shows Adam Yahiye Gadahn, aka Adam Pearlman, a California native highlighted by the FBI in May 2004.

posted November 11, 2004 12:43 PM            

Well, you can hunt and peck your way through the old threads because I've already posted them once for your edification.

Here's a freebie, Israel deported this terrorist supporter for the stated reason, he gave cash to Hamas.