Issue Cat Stevens with an Australian Visa, says Rushdie

Acclaimed author Salman Rushdie has said the artist formally known as Cat Stevens should be issued with an Australian Visa.

An Australian MP recently issued a call to the government not to allow musician Yusuf Islam into the country. The politician said the musician should not be issued an Australian Visa until he withdraws his support for the fatwa edict against Rushdie, imposed by Iran's late leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

Rushdie commented Monday on the fatwa while appearing for a discussion on freedom of speech and human rights, and said the death sentence no longer affects his daily life although the issue has not gone away.

Rushdie was forced into hiding for a decade because of the 1989 religious edict ordering Muslims to kill the author because his book, "The Satanic Verses," insulted Islam.

The Australian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people lodge their Australian immigration applications with the Australian Embassy.