ROME, Nov 8: Singer-songwriter and peace activist Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, will receive a "Man of Peace" award on Wednesday, two months after being refused entry to the United States on security grounds.

Yusuf Islam, 57, will receive the prize from the Gorbachev Foundation at the opening of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates at Rome's city hall.

The award is given annually "to a distinguished personage of culture and entertainment for peace messages, fraternity and integration between nations".

The Foundation said Yusuf Islam was being recognized for his charity, "Small Kindness", set up "to alleviate the suffering of thousands of children and their parents in countries of war and agony like Kosovo, Bosnia, Albania, Montenegro and Iraq".-AFP