Yusuf Islam should be denied visa, says Oz MP

Melbourne (ANI): A Victorian MP has said that singer and songwriter Yusuf Islam formerly known as Cat Stevens, should be denied visa unless he retracts his threats against author Salman Rushdie. “He said that Salman Rushdie should be killed," The Herald Sun quoted the Democratic Labor Party MP, Peter Kavanagh as saying.

“He later said that he was just expressing the Islamic law, not his own views. He said he would like to see Salman Rushdie burned, and not just an effigy of him. If Australia stands for anything, we stand for freedom of expression and democracy and the peaceful resolution of differences," Kavanagh said.

"If someone wants to come here and make a lot of money, like Mr Yusuf does, then they should be required to denounce threats against people on the basis of their opinion," he added.

Yusuf has denied the charges and supporting the fatwa against The Satanic Verses author issued by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989.