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Obama Books Banned for Jailed Terrorist

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 11, 2009 8:04 AM CDT

(Newser) – Prison officials refused to let an al-Qaeda terrorist serving 30 years in Supermax, a prison in Colorado, read Barack Obama's books, the Daily Telegraph reports. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, an American citizen convicted of conspiring to, among other things, assassinate then–President George W. Bush, was told that the books contained information that could jeopardize national security if they were read by prisoners.

Officials singled out a page in the autobiographical Dreams from My Father and 22 in the policy-oriented The Audacity of Hope as containing sensitive information. Ali went on hunger strike over the rejections and the prison's policy on family visits. A prison review concluded that the books were okay for inmates to read after all. "Any inmate there that wanted these, has them," an official now says.

Officials at Colorado's Supermax prison decided "Dreams From My Father" contained information too sensitive for an imprisoned terrorist to read. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

Supporters holds signs and a book as they cheer for Barack Obama during a campaign event last year. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong,File)

Barack Obama signs copies of "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" at a bookstore in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood in this 2006 photo. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast )

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Barack Obama • prison • terrorist • al-Qaeda • Dreams From My Father • prisoner • Supermax • President Obama

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Detroit Bust Would've Been Better Than Bailout

Ex-Prez Bush says bailout his idea, and a good one

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Budget would institute 'Buffett Rule,' boost infrastructure

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Pakistan is holding them in security compound for now

White House to Budge on Birth-Control Mandate

'Accommodation' for religious employers will likely be announced today

Small Donors Gave 48% of Obama's 2011 Donations

That's more than double the proportion from 2007: analysis

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