Obama's uncle released from jail

BOSTON: An uncle of President Barack Obama arrested last month near Boston and held on immigration charges has been released, the detention center said Friday.

"I will say he's not here now," Sara Lavoie, a spokeswoman for Plymouth County Jail, said, refusing to give further details following US media reports that Onyango Obama had been released.

Obama was arrested in Framingham, Massachusetts on August 24 and charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. However, he immediately faced new charges of violating his immigration status and was held by federal immigration authorities.

His status now and his whereabouts were not made public. His lawyer, Margaret Wong, would not comment.

The president's extended family on his Kenyan father's side made news last year when his aunt, Zeituni Onyango, who is the sister of Onyango Obama, won a court battle for asylum after being in the country illegally.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011