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Barack Obama's 'Auntie Zeituni', found by The Times living on a Boston housing estate, appears to have made an illegal contribution to her nephew's presidential campaign because she is not a US citizen.

Following the revelation, Obama's campaign issued a statement saying that Senator Obama had no knowledge of his aunt's immigration status, and that he believed all appropriate laws should be followed in dealing with the issue.

Zeituni Onyango, 56, the half-sister of Mr Obama's Kenyan father, gave a total of $260 to the Obama campaign during the third quarter of this year, records show.

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US election rules require that individuals making presidential campaign contributions be US citizens, and political campaigns are required to make "best efforts" to verify that, a Federal Election Commission spokesman said.

The Associated Press reports that Ms Onyango is living in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago.

There are an estimated 10 million illegal immigrants in the US.

Nevertheless, the revelation could be a political embarrassment for the Obama campaign with just three days to go to the presidential election.

Ms Onyango was the first Kenyan relative to welcome Mr Obama on his first visit to his father's homeland in 1988, and she is a large character in his best-selling memoir Dreams From My Father.

"'Welcome home', Zeituni said, kissing me on both cheeks," Mr Obama wrote.

A relative said Ms Onyango moved to America about eight years ago. For the past five years she has been living in public housing in gritty South Boston.

Asked by The Times how long she had been living in America, she said: "I have been coming to America ever since 1975. I always come and go."

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