Obama returns to Hawaii to see grandmother

HONOLULU, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Setting his presidential campaign on hold, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., flew to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother.

Obama arrived on Oahu late Thursday after a nine-hour flight from the Midwestern battleground of his campaign for a visit of about an hour with his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who is gravely ill, and planned another visit Friday.

She turns 86 on Sunday but aides said doctors advised Obama not to delay his visit, The New York Times reported.

Obama called the trip not negotiable, advisers said. The presidential candidate said he missed his mother's death in 1995 and didn't intend to repeat that mistake with his grandmother, described as a stalwart in his life.

Obama hasn't scheduled any public appearances in Hawaii but aides said he would be in touch with his advisers in Chicago.