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butthurt [soylentnews.org] writes:

The American boxer Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., died on 3 June in Scottsdale, Arizona at age 74. The cause of death was listed as septic shock. He had suffered from parkinsonism [wikipedia.org], which is distinct from Parkinson's disease; the syndrome, with which he was diagnosed in 1984, may have resulted from injuries sustained while boxing.

As a boxer, he had been the world heavyweight champion on three occasions. After he first won the title, he announced that he had converted to Islam; his new name was bestowed upon him by Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. Citing his Muslim beliefs, Ali applied as a conscientious objector. After his application was denied, he nonetheless refused to fight [worldhistoryproject.org] in the Vietnam War, for which he was stripped of his boxing title and his licence to box. In the U.S. Supreme Court, he won [aavw.org] conscientious objector status.

Ali was one of about 1600 people on a watch list of "domestic terrorist and foreign radical suspects," whose international communications were collected by the NSA's Project MINARET [foreignpolicy.com] surveillance programme.

In 1990 he met with Saddam Hussein [daytondailynews.com], securing the release of 15 U.S. hostages.

A Freedom of Information Act request for Ali's FBI file [muckrock.com] appears to have been filed on 4 June.

coverage:

• Reuters [reuters.com]
• KJZZ-FM [kjzz.org]
• KJZZ-FM [kjzz.org]
• CNN [cnn.com]
• USA Today [usatoday.com]
• Business Insider [businessinsider.com]
• Los Angeles Times editorial [latimes.com]
• Slate [slate.com]

further information:

• National Security Archive on MINARET [gwu.edu]
• biography at Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]
• biography at history.com [history.com]
• biography at CNN [cnn.com]

Original Submission