Snoop Dogg denied entry into Australia

SYDNEY, Australia - Snoop Dogg has been refused entry into Australia because of his extensive criminal record, the immigration minister said Thursday, the second time this year the rapper has been barred from entering another country.

Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr., was due to fly into Sydney this week to co-host the MTV Australia Video Music Awards.

Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said Snoop Dogg's visa was canceled because he had failed to pass the country's strict character test, which takes criminal convictions into account.

"He doesn't seem the sort of bloke we want in this country," Andrews told Sydney's Macquarie Radio.

The rapper now has 28 days to protest the decision.

Donald Etra, the rapper's Los Angeles-based lawyer, said he had not heard from his client about the visa cancellation and could not comment.

Earlier this month, Snoop Dogg was sentenced to five years' probation and 800 hours of community service after he pleaded no contest to felony gun and drug charges in California.

Snoop Dogg was convicted in 1990 of cocaine possession and charged with gun possession after a 1993 traffic stop. In 1997, he pleaded guilty in exchange for three years' probation and a promise to make public service announcements against violence.

He was acquitted of a murder charge in 1996 after the death of an alleged street-gang member killed by gunfire from the vehicle in which Snoop Dogg was traveling.

During Snoop Dogg's last visit to Australia in February, Andrews said he overstayed his visa by two days and was given an official warning.

In March, Snoop Dogg and fellow rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs were forced to scrap a tour of Britain after authorities denied Snoop Dogg a visa. Britain's Home Office rules state that foreign citizens can be barred from entering the country if there are concerns about their presence.

In April 2006, Snoop Dogg and five other men were arrested on charges of violent disorder and starting a brawl, and spent the night in jail after trouble flared when some in the rapper's party were denied entry to British Airways' first-class lounge at Heathrow Airport.