Activist ends 110-day hunger strike

Opposition activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, facing a life sentence on charges of seeking to overthrow Bahrain’s Sunni rulers, announced on Monday that he is ending a 110-day hunger strike, as another rights campaigner was released on bail.

Shiite Khawaja “will end his hunger strike this (Monday) evening,” his lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi said.

Earlier Jishi announced that prominent activist Nabeel Rajab was granted bail although he continues to face three separate trials on charges including writing tweets deemed insulting to the Bahraini government.

In a statement posted by the lawyer on his Twitter page, Khawaja told his family he was ending his strike on Monday evening “despite failure to achieve the direct demand which is to be set free.”

But he would stop his fast “following the success of his supporters... in shedding light on the issue of detainees in Bahrain prisons... and taking in consideration the forced feeding imposed on him by authorities since April 23.”