Clooney Plans Movie of Bin Laden's Driver

Actor George Clooney will bring the story of Osama bin Laden's recently convicted driver to the big screen.

George Clooney, a Barack Obama supporter, has purchased the movie rights to Jonathan Mahler's book "The Challenge," according to the LATimes.com blog Top of the Ticket. Mahler's book is about Salim Hamdan, a Yemini citizen captured during the invasion of Afghanistan and later imprisoned at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Hamdan was paid $200 a month to drive for bin Laden, and he says he took the job because he needed to support his family. The United States disagreed, charging him with "providing material support" to al-Qaida. A military jury found him guilty in July, and he was given a prison sentence of five and a half years.

England's Guardian newspaper reports that Mahler's book paints a sympathetic portrait of Hamdan. Clooney reportedly will play the role of Hamdan's attorney, Charles Swift, in the film.