Ann Dunham and Barack Obama Jr.

TEL AVIV – President Obama's father was abusive and hit at least one of his American wives, Obama's half-brother claimed at a press conference in China today.

The relationship Barack Obama Sr. had with his third wife might shed some light into the mysterious relationship between Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, and Barack Obama Sr. It also may provide some background into why Dunham sought a divorce from Obama Sr., although there is no record of their marriage.

Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo – who had the same father as the U.S. president – spoke to reporters as part of the launch of a novel he says draws on his painful childhood under an abusive father.

Ndesandjo's mother, Ruth, was an American. She was the third wife of Obama Sr. Ruth followed Obama Sr. to Kenya when he returned there after studying at Harvard in 1965. She eventually had two children with him before they divorced.

Ndesandjo's new book, "Nairobi to Shenzhen," was released as a fictional account, but he said it started off nearly 10 years ago as an autobiography and "reflects many experiences in my own life as a child brought up in Kenya," including a troubled relationship with his father.

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"My mother used to say of my father, he's a brilliant man but a social failure," Ndesandjo said, speaking at the press conference in China two weeks before Obama is scheduled to visit that country.

Ndesandjo currently resides in China.

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"I remember times in my house when I would hear screams, and I would hear my mother's pain," he said.

"My skin had turned hard emotionally for so many years because of what I'd seen my mother go through," said Ndesandjo.

The childhood experiences of Ndesandjo provide a glimpse into the life and character of Obama Sr. and may help shed some light into multiple mysteries surrounding the relationship between Obama's stated birth parents.

The official story claims Dunham and Obama Sr. were married Feb. 2, 1961. It describes how the pair separated two years later and divorced in 1964. Obama's father returned to Kenya and saw his son only once more before dying in an automobile accident in 1982.

It isn't clear, however, Obama's parents were married, since official records never have been produced showing a legal ceremony took place. No wedding certificate or photograph of a ceremony for Dunham and Obama Sr. has ever been found or published.

In his book "Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage," former Time magazine contributing editor Christopher Andersen elaborates: "There were certainly no witnesses (to the alleged civil marriage ceremony) – no family members were present, and none of their friends at the university had the slightest inkling that they were even engaged."

Andersen further quoted Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, a self-described friend of Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Dunham in 1961, as saying that "nobody" was invited to the wedding ceremony.

Obama himself, on page 22 of his autobiography "Dreams from My Father," wrote of his parents' wedding:

In fact, how and when the marriage occurred remains a bit murky, a bill of particulars that I've never quite had the courage to explore. There's no record of a real wedding, a cake, a ring, a giving away of the bride. No families were in attendance; it's not even clear that people back in Kansas were fully informed. Just a small civil ceremony, a justice of the peace. The whole thing seems so fragile in retrospect, so haphazard."

Obama's birth story is further complicated by the fact that when Barack Obama Sr. arrived in Hawaii at 23 years old in September 1959, he already had been married, since age 18, to a Kenyan woman named Kezia Aoko, who was allegedly pregnant with Obama Sr.'s first child when he abandoned her in Africa in 1957.

Obama Sr. ultimately had four children with Aoko. WND staff writer Jerome Corsi concluded there is no evidence to suggest Obama Sr. was divorced from Aoko either in Kenya before he left for Hawaii or in Hawaii prior to the alleged marriage with Dunham.

On page 126 of "Dreams from My Father," Barack Obama Jr. described his father's marriage with Aoko in a quotation in which Dunham says, "And then there was a problem with your father's first wife … he had told me they were separated, but it was a village wedding, so there was no legal documentation that could show a divorce."

Dunham apparently was suggesting bigamy was not involved in her alleged marriage since Barack Obama Sr.'s marriage to Aoko was a "village wedding" that possibly would not have been recognized as legitimate by Hawaii civil law. Barack Obama Sr. was reportedly a polygamist who had at least four wives.

Michelle contradicts Obama nativity story

WND reported last week that in little noticed remarks, Michelle Obama stated at a public event that her husband's mother, Dunham, was "very young and very single" when she gave birth to the future U.S. president.

Her comments further undermine the official story as told by Barack Obama – that Dunham was married to his father at the time of birth.

The remarks were made by Michelle Obama during a July 2008 round table at the University of Missouri. Obama was responding to criticism of her husband's presidential campaign speeches about fatherhood and faith-based initiatives.

Michelle Obama explained her husband understands the struggles of low-income families.

"He understands them because he was raised by strong women. He is the product of two great women in his life. His mother and his grandmother," she said.

"Barack saw his mother, who was very young and very single when she had him, and he saw her work hard to complete her education and try to raise he and his sister," Michelle Obama said.

Her remarks about Dunham being "very single" when she gave birth to Barack Obama were also quoted last year on a blog posted at MSNBC.com. The remarks, however, contradicted previous claims President Obama made about the circumstances of his birth.

Later in her roundtable comments, Michelle Obama stated her candidness might get her into trouble:

"So in my famous Michelle Obama honesty that sometimes gets me in trouble, I have to say that when Barack approached me, when he was seriously considering this run for president, I said, 'No way. Absolutely not. Please don't.'"

Evidence challenges claim over birth address

In addition to questions about Dunham's marital status, WND previously uncovered documents strongly suggesting Barack Obama Sr. and Dunham did not live at the address listed in birth announcements in two local papers – 6085 Kalanianaole Highway in Honolulu.

But WND has confirmed the house at that address was owned and occupied in 1961 by another longtime resident Hawaiian couple. Moreover, throughout the time he was in Hawaii, Barack Obama Sr. maintained his own separate apartment at 625 11th Ave., within walking distance of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he was enrolled for studies in the fall term 1959.

Raising further questions, WND also reported Dunham was registered for college classes in Seattle only 15 days after reportedly delivering her firstborn child in Honolulu, according to school records.

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Previous stories:

Michelle contradicts Obama nativity story

Was Obama's birth out of wedlock?

Obama presents 'nativity myth' to schoolkids

Official Obama nativity story continues to unravel

Obama's parents didn't live at newspaper birth address

Obama mama: 6 lost months

Evidence challenges claim over Obama's birth address

Gibbs: 10,000 more important issues than eligibility

White House stonewalling on 'birth letter'

AOL poll: 82% want Obama to release it

'Shut up Lou Dobbs' campaign hits stride

Hawaiian newspapers don't prove birthplace

Mr. President, we have a problem

'Birth hospital': Letter for real

Lib talker, Lou Dobbs now asking eligibility questions

'Begone!' Georgia judge orders fired reservist

Pentagon orders soldier fired for challenging prez

Bombshell: Orders revoked for soldier challenging prez

Now White House joins 'birth hospital' cover-up

Soldier won't serve without proof Obama eligible

Wikipedia says Obama born in Kenya

Just who delivered baby Barack Obama?

Obama's 'birth hospital' in astonishing cover-up

New reports cite Obama's African 'home'

Obama's birth letter: Is this thing for real?

U.S. hospitals 'wouldn't have to disclose Hitler'

News sites swap Obama's birthplace like magic

Obama birth mystery: More than 1 hospital

Hospital won't back Obama birth claim

Gibbs gets 2nd shot at eligibility question

THE FULL STORY: See listing of more than 200 exclusive WND reports on the eligibility issue