MP wants Cat Stevens banned from Australia

Ban call: Singer Yusuf Islam, formerly known
as Cat Stevens.

ABC.net.au

A Victorian state MP is lobbying to have musician Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, banned from Australia.

Islam is touring Australia next month but DLP upper house member Peter Kavanagh says the singer should be denied a visa because he once supported a "fatwa" against author Salman Rushdie.

Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued the religious decree calling for Muslims to kill Rushdie for alleged blasphemy in his novel The Satanic Verses in 1989.

"Cat Stevens seemed to support those threats against Mr Rushdie, he now says he was joking," Mr Kavanagh said.

"But I think, before he comes into Australia, he should be required to say that he does not support threats against people for the expression of their opinions.

"What he said was he was he was exercising his dry British sense of humour," he added.

"It needs a clear repudiation of the threat. What he said might be true but he hasn't clearly repudiated a threat to kill on the basis of expressing an opinion.

"He has not said I do not support killing anybody for the expression of their beliefs. I think that statement should be made otherwise, I think it's contrary to everything that's Australian and democratic."

"I think it he's not prepared to do that then I think it would be better if he didn't come to Australia, and make millions of dollars that he will take out of the country in the next few weeks."