Harry Belafonte was excluded from Coretta Scott King's funeral service so the "Terrorist" Bush could have a Photo Op.

Where was Harry Belafonte? Where was the entertainer, civil rights activist and humanitarian last week when funeral services were held for Coretta Scott King?

Why wasn't he present? Mrs. King's husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Belafonte were very close before King was assassinated April 4, 1968 as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

Look at some of the photos taken on the day of MLK's funeral services, and you will see Belafonte walking alongside Mrs. King and three of her children, Yolanda, Dexter and Martin III.

So why wasn't Belafonte in attendance at Mrs. King's funeral? He had planned to be there:

"Due to a recent tragic unfolding, the death of Mrs. Martin Luther King Jr., I have been requested by the family and my fellow leaders from the civil rights movement to deliver a part of the eulogy on the occasion of her burial on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 in Atlanta, Ga.,'' the news center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, reported on the school's Web site on Feb. 6 as to why Belafonte postponed a scheduled speech at Case Western.

"The loss of Mrs. King is profound. My relationship to Dr. King and Mrs. King and with their children since the time of their birth has always been evident. I could not imagine being required to speak in the church at her service and not be in attendance,'' the Case Western email quoted Belafonte as saying.

So where was Belafonte, the man who linked arms with Mrs. King, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and thousands of others in March 2005 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery March's Bloody Sunday?

Could Belafonte have been asked not to show up at Mrs. King's funeral after supposedly being on the program? Could he have been excluded to ensure the presence of President George W. Bush at the "first lady'' of civil rights' funeral?

Earlier this year, Belafonte called Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world'' while in Caracas, Venezuela, as he met with Venezuelan President (and Bush critic) Hugo Chavez, according to the Associated Press.

"I called Belafonte to find out for myself if it was true, and he said it was,'' the Rev. C.T. Vivian, a veteran civil rights activist, told me Friday after calling to see if I could find out why Belafonte was not at the funeral. "I asked were you disinvited, and he said, yes.

"The reason is that the president was not coming if Belafonte was going to be there. …''

That's just not true, according to a public relations spokesman who worked with the King family on services for Mrs. King.

"The rumor Harry Belafonte was disinvited to the King funeral is 100% inaccurate,'' Dan Rene, vice president of Impact Strategies, a Washington-based public relations firm, told me Friday over the telephone, and later in an e-mail. "The only individuals with the authority to take such action were the King family.

"The White House did not have that authority, nor did anyone else — again, only the family. It is ridiculous and insulting to suggest that they would treat someone so close to them and their mother in such a manner.

"It is up to Mr. Belafonte to answer the question of why he was not in attendance. The King children would have welcomed his presence. In fact, he was listed in the program as an honorary pallbearer.

"Additionally, the rumor is very suspect because no one, including Mr. Belafonte, can explain exactly who it was that supposedly disinvited him. The reason for this is, of course, the fact that he was always welcome.''

So, who and what do you believe?

I haven't been able to reach Harry Belafonte directly for comment, but Rev. Vivian told me it is unlikely he will respond publicly because he wants to maintain some relationship with the King children.

The issue was also raised Tuesday in a newsletter distributed by former Emerge magazine editor George Curry. "Evidently, the funeral organizers were more interested in not offending Bush than recognizing the person who had actually supported Dr. King and his work,'' Curry wrote.

And, in The Weekly Holla from the Web site, www.SeeingBlack.com, a reader asked Tuesday, "Are y'all going to run anything about the King children dis-inviting Harry Belafonte …?"

Vivian, meanwhile, told me that Belafonte is saddened and hurt by this turn of events. If this is true, who could blame him? And it makes you wonder about that freedom we call speech. •