"We are very disappointed that we can’t play to our fans in the Middle East. We are not and never have been a racist band. The lyrics of the song 'Crusader' have been taken totally out of context. Many of the songs we write are based on historical events e.g. 'Dallas 1 PM' (Kennedy's assassination), 'Conquistador' (The Conquest of South America), 'Crusader' (The 12th Century) — the songs are not intended to be taken as any form of propaganda, the song is a snapshot of an event in history, the lyrics are intended to give a flavour of what it must have been like in the army at the time. Saladin, the leader of the Saracens, was also a mighty warrior and his battles would make a good vehicle for a great metal song as well. The journalist who wrote about 'Crusader' was obviously trying to cause as much trouble as possible. We don't write lyrics to inside hatred or racism, we have fans all over the world of every colour and religion and music should be used to break down barriers and not to build them."