Yusuf Islam: Once a Cat, Never a Ringo
One fan British singer Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) may wish he never had is Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind Egyptian preacher serving life in U.S. prison for plotting to bomb New York City landmarks. The blind sheik's admiration for the pop star was documented in a video made by authorities at a U.S. prison in Minnesota during a 2000 visit to Sheik Omar by his U.S. lawyer and Mohammed Yousry, a friend. According to a transcript, the sheik spent much of the visit dictating messages. At one point, he gave Yousry a list of Muslims, including Islam, whom he hoped would support his causes. Yousry asks the sheik's lawyer, Lynne Stewart: "Do you know this guy who was a member of the Beatles or something, and he now announced that he is a Muslim or something, and he converted to Islam..." "Is it Ringo?" the lawyer asks. "Maybe... He was one of the Beatles, the famous Beatles group of England... I don't remember his English name," Yousry responds. (The transcript was entered into evidence in the current trial of Yousry and Stewart on charges of conspiring to support terrorism. They deny the charges.) In September, Islam, a Muslim convert, was a focus of controversy when Homeland Security banned him from America for possible terrorist connections. A U.S. security official says the decision to bar Islam was based on intel allegedly linking him to suspects with more current terror connections than the sheik. Islam has denied any terrorist ties.
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Mark Hosenball joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in November 1993, covering a range of issues for the National Affairs department. Most recently, he has written and reported numerous stories on terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks on America. He has also covered campaign finance, the Monica Lewinsky controversy, the death of Princess Diana, Whitewater, the crashes of EgyptAir flight 990 and TWA flight 800, as well as related air safety issues.
Hosenball came to Newsweek from "Dateline NBC," where he worked as an investigative producer. He also worked extensively as a print journalist, writing for a number of British and American publications, including the London Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard, Time Out, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. In addition, he has done commentaries for American Public Radio.
Hosenball has been honored with a number of prestigious awards. Most recently, along with a team of Newsweek correspondents, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club's most prestigious honor, the 2002 Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek's coverage of the war on terror. His reporting and that of his colleagues earned Newsweek the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002 for its coverage of September 11 and its aftermath. And a story he co-authored was highlighted in a citation Newsweek received by the White House Correspondents' Association when it awarded the magazine the 2002 Edgar A. Poe Award for "excellence on a story of national or regional importance. "Newsweek's September 11 coverage started long before the attacks. An article in the magazine's February 19, 2001 issue warned with chilling accuracy: 'The threat posed by (Osama) bin Laden is growing -- and coming ever closer to home."
Hosenball was a contributor to the CANAL + TV documentary, "L'Argent de la Drogue" (Drug Money), which was awarded the "Sept D'Or," the French equivalent of an Emmy. He also contributed to NBC News' coverage of the BCCI scandal, which earned a 1991 Peabody Award.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College in Dublin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and son.
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