Cat Stevens plans legal action

The former Cat Stevens plans to take legal action to find out why American authorities think he has terrorist ties.

Yusuf Islam, as he's known now, says he wants to clear his name of 'this appalling and baseless slur.' He does not say what that legal action will entail. A flight from London to Washington was diverted to Bangor, Maine, recently because Islam was on board and his name appears on a no-fly list.

Islam says he has still not been given an explanation of what he's accused of, let alone the chance to respond to the allegations. He says he was simply told that "the order had come from on high." A Homeland Security spokesman says the intelligence community has recently obtained information that "further heightens concerns" about Islam.

A second official, speaking anonymously, says US officials think Islam's donations may have ended up funding blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted in a plot to bomb New York landmarks, and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Islam says he is 'a man of peace.'document.write(unescape('\04564%6F%63um\145%6Et.%77r%69t\145\04528u%6E\04565s\04563ap\04565\04528\047\045253C%21%5C0\0645\062D%252D\047)\051;