Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has presented the singer once known as Cat Stevens with a peace prize on Wednesday,  two months after the United States denied the singer entry on national security grounds.

Mr. Gorbachev presented British singer Yusuf Islam with this year's "Man for Peace" award at a ceremony in Rome. The ceremony took place at the opening of a meeting of Nobel Prize laureates.

Mr. Gorbachev said the 57-year-old singer has promoted peace and denounced terrorism.

The United States denied Mr. Islam entry after his name showed up on a U.S. government "no-fly" list of individuals with possible terrorist connections. Mr. Islam has vehemently denied any connection to terrorism.

 The former Cat Stevens was an international music star before converting to Islam in the late 1970s and changing his name.