Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, an American al-Qaeda member, is serving a 30-year sentence for conspiring to commit various terrorist acts, including the murder of George W Bush, who was then president of the United State.
Last year, before Mr Obama's victory in the presidential election, Abu Ali requested his biographical Dreams from My Father and the more policy-oriented The Audacity of Hope.
Last year, before Mr Obama's victory in the presidential election, Abu Ali requested his biographical Dreams from My Father and the more policy-oriented The Audacity of Hope.
Citing guidance from the FBI, the authorities at the "Supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado, decided that both books contained information that could jeopardise national security.
Officials mentioned specific pages – but not passages - that were objectionable, singling out a page in Dreams from My Father and 22 in The Audacity of Hope. Half of them were in a chapter devoted to foreign affairs.
Abu Ali later went on hunger strike in protest at his treatment and prison officials said on Thursday that the books were subsequently deemed appropriate following a review of their contents.
However, evidence of their original ban has been included in court papers r
elating to Abu Ali's resentencing hearing next month.
Joshua Dratel, his lawyer, said the rejection was an example of the harsh conditions imposed on inmates at the supermax prison.
"Imagine an existence controlled by characters created by Louis (sic) Carroll, and that would approach that which Mr Abu Ali faces each day for the duration of his sentence," Mr Dratel wrote.
In a short, handwritten note on a prison complaint form, Abu Ali argued that the two rejections "violate my 1st amend. rights".
The rejections, as well as other restrictions on family visits, prompted a hunger strike by Abu Ali that has since ended, according to Mr Dratel.
Inmates at the supposedly impregnable prison are usually kept in their cells in solitary confinement for 22 or 23 hours a day.
Officials mentioned specific pages – but not passages - that were objectionable, singling out a page in Dreams from My Father and 22 in The Audacity of Hope. Half of them were in a chapter devoted to foreign affairs.
Abu Ali later went on hunger strike in protest at his treatment and prison officials said on Thursday that the books were subsequently deemed appropriate following a review of their contents.
However, evidence of their original ban has been included in court papers r
elating to Abu Ali's resentencing hearing next month.Joshua Dratel, his lawyer, said the rejection was an example of the harsh conditions imposed on inmates at the supermax prison.
"Imagine an existence controlled by characters created by Louis (sic) Carroll, and that would approach that which Mr Abu Ali faces each day for the duration of his sentence," Mr Dratel wrote.
In a short, handwritten note on a prison complaint form, Abu Ali argued that the two rejections "violate my 1st amend. rights".
The rejections, as well as other restrictions on family visits, prompted a hunger strike by Abu Ali that has since ended, according to Mr Dratel.
Inmates at the supposedly impregnable prison are usually kept in their cells in solitary confinement for 22 or 23 hours a day.
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