Bahrain 1st-Hand: A Family Visit to Detained Hunger Striker Abdulhadi Alkhawaja

Mum said "docs who saw u say u r in imminent danger of death" Dad smiled & said "whatever happens is in the interest of the ppl" #bahrain

— angry arabiya (@angryarabiya) April 15, 2012

---

The family of detained human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, was finally allowed to see him in a military hospital on Day 67 of his hunger strike. Zainab Alkhawaja, also a prominent activist, describes the visit:

We were allowed a 1 hr visit to see my father today.

We were escorted by police and soldiers into a small hospital room, where we were searched thoroughly several times. My father was brought to us, or a skeleton version of my father. I didn't think he could look worse than the picture we saw, but he did. He's so skinny I was surprised he could sit up to speak to us.

Click to read more ...

Egypt, Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: So Who's in the Presidential Election?

See also Saturday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Protests Take Over<

---

1840 GMT: An EA correspondent reports on a security crackdown tonight in Bahrain:

All Sitra entrances and exists are blocked by checkpoints, not allowing anyone out or in unless they been searched. The whole village is filled with police forces, some in their jeeps while others on foot. They blocked the road near the police station too, not allowing anyone to pass there.

I believe there will be houses raids, as in Bani Jamra a couple days ago.

1830 GMT: Bahraini activist Zainab Alkhawaja brings urgent news:

URGENT: activist @SAIDYOUSIF and two foreign activists from Human Rights Watch have been arrested now in Duraz village #bahrain

— angry arabiya (@angryarabiya) April 15, 2012

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Protests Take Over

See also Israel Feature: As World Worries About Iran, Netanyahu Expands Settlements
Palestine Opinion: Britain's Deportation of Sheikh Raed Salah
Friday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Will the Regime Challenge the Protests?

The opening day of the funeral of Bahraini citizen journalist Ahmed Ismail Hassan, shot to death two weeks ago

---

2224 GMT: Back from a conference to find that the United Nations Security Council has unanimously adopted UN Resolution 2042 for the first 30 unarmed military monitors, who are expected to leave within days.

The observers will report on whether the resolution has been met by "a full cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties". The measure also demands that the Assad regime implement the six-point peace plan put forward by United Nations envoy Kofi Annan, with the pull-back of troops and heavy weapons from cities and town.

A new resolution with a full mandate will be required for the full monitoring mission of more than 200 observers.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Will the Regime Challenge the Protests?

Mass demonstration last night in Freedom Square in Deir Ez Zor, Syria

---

1919 GMT: According to the Local Coordinating Committees of Syria, they have been able to confirm the deaths of 13 so far today:

3 martyrs were documented in Hama as a result of sporadic gunfire at the protesters, 2 martyrs in each of Daraa and Aleppo as a result of sporadic gunfire at protesters. Also, 2 martyrs were documented in Idlib and one of corpses was un-identified. 2 martyrs in Homs in a random shelling at some neighborhoods. 1 martyr in Daraya, Damascus suburbs, in a sporadic gunfire by security forces at the protesters and 1 martyr in Hasaka, a defected recruit who was executed.

Homs, and several surrounding towns, were heavily shelled once again today. In this video, a building burns as heavy gunfire fills the background in Qosour:

Ahmed Al Omran provides this video, a wider view of the Khalidiya district of Homs:

Video reportedly shows shelling on Homs today, sounds of intense gunfire youtube.com/watch?v=bo6qOx… #SYRIA

— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) April 13, 2012

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Document: Activists Appeal to BBC and Sky Not to Broadcast Grand Prix

A cartoon by Carlos Latuff is converted into a mural in Barbar village

---

With pressure mounting on Formula One to pull out of the forthcoming Bahrain Grand Prix, activists are beginning to target the organisations around the race. Earlier today, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and other Bahrain activists wrote a letter to the BBC and Sky --- who hold the broadcasting rights for the race --- calling on them not to broadcast the events on moral grounds. Speaking to the Guardian, Dr Ala'a Shehabi said of the campaign:

Formula One is all about advertising, marketing, it's more about the commercial side than the actual sport itself.

So we know that in broadcasting, you're encouraging all of the commercial interests in the sport which puts finance over human rights. That is what the major moral issue is here. If we can target the broadcasters, we can at least cut some of the possibility of profits made from advertising, at least.

The full text of the letter:

---

April 12 2012

Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC
Jeremy Darroch, Chief Executive, Sky

We are writing to ask you to consider canceling your planned televised coverage of the Formula One race in Bahrain on moral grounds and in consideration of the thousands of victims of state atrocities over the past year. On this small island, 85 people have been killed by security forces, and there are around 600 political prisoners. The majority of the people will not be watching or enjoying the race. In fact they will see it as a provocation.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Deadline for a Cease-Fire

Analysts on Al Jazeera English's Inside Story discuss whether a peace plan can succeed in Syria

See also Bahrain Document: Activists Appeal to BBC and Sky Not to Broadcast Grand Prix
Turkey Live Coverage (12 April): Erdogan "If the UN Does Not Follow on Syria, What Will It Follow Through?"
Wednesday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Deadline? What Deadline?
Turkey Live Coverage (11 April): Erdogan Taking the Lead on Syria?

---

2005 GMT: A significant update from Bahraini photojournalist Mazen Mahdi:

opposition groups call-off Friday 3pm rally and call on supporters to take part in funeral of citizen journalist Ahmed Ismail #Bahrain

— Mazen Mahdi (@MazenMahdi) April 12, 2012

The family of Ahmad Ismail Hassan, the citizen journalist killed two weeks ago as he filmed protests on Salmabad --- allegedly by a regime operative firing from a Land Cruiser --- had refused to accept the body from the hospital because "shooting" was not put as cause of death on the certificate.

Now that the family has taken Ismail Hassan for burial, the march promises to be one of the largest in recent months on the island.

1945 GMT: The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria have issued a clarification about today's claimed death toll of 37:

The Local Coordination Committees would like to note that the martyrs of Deir Baalba's Massacre [in a section of Homs] that was discovered today have actually fallen on the 8th of April, 2012; and it was until today that their bodies were discovered.

This happened because of the heavy presence of the army and the lack of communications in the city during the last week. Therefore, the number of martyrs who were killed today...is 22 martyrs, distributed as follows: 9 martyrs in Homs, 6 in Idlib, 5 in Damascus Suburbs and 2 martyrs in Aleppo.

An evening demonstration in Hama:

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Deadline? What Deadline?

Iranian cartoonist Maya Neyestani on the Syrian crisis

See also Bahrain Propaganda 101: Former Times Editor, Turned PR Man, Tries to Sell the Regime's Grand Prix
Turkey Live Coverage (11 April): Erdogan Taking the Lead on Syria?
Tuesday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Deadline Passes as 160 Die

---

2033 GMT: The White House has issued a general statement about Bahrain, with specific reference to the condition of detained activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, who is on Day 63 of a hunger strike:

The United States continues to be deeply concerned about the situation in Bahrain, and we urge all parties to reject violence in all its forms. We condemn the violence directed against police and government institutions, including recent incidents that have resulted in serious injuries to police officers. We also call on the police to exercise maximum restraint, and condemn the use of excessive force and indiscriminate use of tear gas against protestors, which has resulted in civilian casualties.

We continue to underscore, both to the government and citizens of Bahrain, the importance of working together to address the underlying causes of mistrust and to promote reconciliation. In this respect, we note our continued concern for the well-being of jailed activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and call on the Government of Bahrain to consider urgently all available options to resolve his case. More broadly, we urge the government to redouble its ongoing efforts to implement the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, and renew our call for the government, opposition parties, and all segments of Bahraini society to engage in a genuine dialogue leading to meaningful reforms that address the legitimate aspirations of all Bahrainis.

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Propaganda 101: Former Times Editor, Turned PR Man, Tries to Sell the Regime's Grand Prix (Hardigree)

David CracknellDavid Cracknell [is] the former Political Editor of The Sunday Times and current PR consultant for the Government of Bahrain. His company, Big Tent Communications, is one of many hired either directly or through other companies by the Bahraini government to "correct inaccurate reporting" on the situation.

Cracknell's first email to me came on January 11th, completely unsolicited and "on background" in a chummy tone of one journalist talking to another — despite being a consultant paid for by the government....His assessment of the situation was that Bahrain is overwhelmingly peaceful, that scuffles are on par with the rioting in London, and wants journalists to more thoroughly question reports that opposition leaders like Nabeel Rajab are fabricating the tales of abuse that end up in the Western press.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Deadline Passes as 160 Die

2020 GMT: Back from a development break to find that today's deathtoll in Syria has reached 101, according to the LCCS. The Deir Balbaa district of Homs suffered the hardest hit, but the deaths were distributed as follows:

56 in Homs, 22 martyrs in Hama, 12 martyrs in Idlib, 6 martyrs in Daraa, 3 martyrs in Aleppo, 1 martyr in Harasta in Damascus Suburbs and 1 martyr in Deir Ezzor.

At this late hour, the LCCS also reports that the Assad military is raiding Qa'alat al Madiq, in Hama province.

So, on the day that withdrawal was supposed to start, there has been an escalation in Homs and Hama, a continuation of the campaigns against Idlib and Daraa provinces, and though Aleppo suffered far fewer action than previous days, it too is reporting casualties at the hands of the regime.

A friend of EA's quips that every time Kofi Annan speaks, Assad seems to kill a few dozen people, so for the sake of all of Syria we should hope that Annan gives up his mission of peace.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Deadlines of Diplomacy and Death

2049 GMT: According to the latest tally by Syrian activist network LCCS, 160 have been killed today nationwide, including:

"...at least 40 women and children, and 8 Free Syrian Army members. 52 in Homs, 45 in Aleppo, 36 in Hama, 16 in Idlib, 6 in Damascus Suburbs, 2 in Kilis Refugee Camp in Turkey, 1 in Deir Ezzor,1 in Hassakeh and 1 in Saidaa Daraa.

However, since this tally new reports of death have continued to come in to the LCCS. The latest report is that regime forces killed 5 police officers when they refused to fire on civilians in a small town between Damascus and the Golan Heights (map).

The deaths reported today show that the regime appears to be making concerted efforts to crackdown against protests near its borders with Turkey and Lebanon in advance of tomorrow's UN ceasefire deadline.

2040 GMT: The Danish ambassador to Bahrain has been denied access to Abdulhadi AlKhawaja, a Danish citizen and political prisoner who is enduring his 61st day of hunger strike.

Click to read more ...