Clooney Mulls Movie on Qaeda Driver

Actor may play lawyer who fought for Gitmo prisoner's rights
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 14, 2008 2:39 AM CDT
Clooney Mulls Movie on Qaeda Driver
George Clooney speaks to the media about trip to Darfur at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008.    (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Activist actor George Clooney is considering making the most politically charged film of his career, the Independent reports. The Syriana star has bought the movie rights to The Challenge, a book documenting the life and trial of Osama bin Laden's chauffeur Salim Hamdan, who was sentenced last week to nearly six years in prison for supporting terror. Clooney would likely play Hamdan's lawyer,

The book portrays the Navy lawyer's battle for a fair trial for Hamdan as a David-and-Goliath struggle against the government. "It's difficult not to be impressed by his sense of duty, by the idea that justice transcends the allegiances of war," author Jonathan Mahler said of the lawyer. "I'm sure that's part of the appeal to George Clooney. I've got no doubt he's going to do a fantastic job with this." (More George Clooney stories.)

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