British tortured Obama's grandfather

The grandfather of President-elect Barack Obama was imprisoned and tortured by the British during Kenya's struggle for independence, an Obama relative says.

The woman Obama refers to as Granny Sarah told The Times of London Hussein Onyango Obama, the president-elect's paternal grandfather, was arrested in 1949 and jailed for two years in a high-security prison.

The African warders were instructed by the white soldiers to whip him every morning and evening until he confessed, said Sarah Onyango, his third wife.

In a story published Wednesday, the London newspaper said the beatings and abuse made Barack Obama's grandfather loathe the British.

He became involved in the Kenyan independence movement while working as a cook for a British army officer after World War II.

Although he was from a different tribe, Obama's grandfather sympathized with the organization leading the movement that would eventually stage the Mau Mau rebellion, says The Times.