SHORT TAKES : Cat Stevens Seeks Gulf Peace

Pop star Cat Stevens, who now calls himself Yusuf Islam, has called on Western nations to pull their troops out of the Persian Gulf.

The former singer, a convert to Islam, planned to meet Thursday in London with representatives of Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to ask them to settle the crisis.

The meeting follows a declaration by about 50 Muslim groups calling on Britain and other Western countries to withdraw their forces from the area.

“We are going to communicate personally the declaration and make a further appeal to the governments to do their best to resolve their affairs amicably,” Islam said Tuesday.

The guitarist, who had hits with such songs as “Peace Train” and “Morning Is Broken,” has left the music business. Last year, he backed the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s call to kill Salman Rushdie over his novel “The Satanic Verses.”