London, Oct 25 : Popstar Cat Stevens alias Yusuf Islam has rebuffed claims that Israeli security services objected to his entry into the country, claiming that it was he who backed out due to other date conflicts.

The grapevine has it that Stevens, who converted to Islam in 1977, was invited to headline an October 27 peace concert to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Peres Centre for Peace, an organisation backed by Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Uri Savir, a former Israeli diplomat and negotiator who heads the Peres Centre, earlier said that when Stevens’ passport details were submitted for a "conventional security check", it sparked a "huge row".