Bahrain Live Coverage: Day 100 of a Hunger Strike

The march today protesting closer ties with Saudi Arabia

See also Bahrain Opinion: On Day 100 of a Hunger Strike, Thoughts About the Regime's Strategy
Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Students Rise in Aleppo
Thursday's Bahrain Live Coverage: Playing the Iran Card

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2008 GMT: After today's mass rally, the Ministry of Interior is trying to cap the show of oppposition:

Chief of Pub Security: gathering called for by Alwefaq tomorrow evening near UN House was denied permission. Participation is illegal #BAH

— Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) May 18, 2012

1920 GMT: Western media writes about the "tens of thousands" of protesters who marched today against closer ties with Saudi Arabia, chanting "Down, Down Hamad!", “No unity, no unity", and “Bahrain is not for sale".

More interesting is the note accompanying a video (see top of entry), uploaded by the opposition society Al Wefaq, which claims more than 300,000 marching. While stressing the rejection of "unity" with Riyadh, the comment adds:

Protesters also took advantage of the rally to express their solidarity with Ayatollah Sheik Isa Qassim, who had been targeted by the regime with inflammatory references. Ayatollah Qasim has been the safety valve that balanced the rhythm of the public in the country with his moderate discourse.

That portrayal is likely to antagonise the regime, which has presented Qassim --- the leading Shia cleric in Bahrai --- as a figure causing division and promoting violence.

1757 GMT: Queen Elizabeth of England and Prince Philip greet King Hamad and Princess Sabeeka at the lunch celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee (Photo: Associated Press):

1529 GMT: A photo of today's opposition rally:

1242 GMT: The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights claims that more than 20 people were injured on Thursday night by security forces firing birdshot.

The protest march in Bilad Alqadeem on Thursday:

1027 GMT: Andrew Hammond of Reuters offers detail on why a proposal for Saudi Arabia's "closer union" with Bahrain collapsed so quickly on Monday:

"These things need to be looked at in depth," said Ghanem al-Najjar, professor of political science at Kuwait University.

"You don't just decide that you will have unity, by trying to create some sort of unified body against Iran and to handle the development created by the Arab uprisings."...

"They had no idea really what they wanted the union to look like, then they came on Sunday to try to work things out and couldn't agree. By Sunday night there were strong rumors it wasn't going well," said a Qatar-based analyst familiar with the talks. Saudi officials were angry and disappointed, he said.

People with access to the room where the leaders met noted few smiling faces, in contrast to most such events, and even sensed anger among some of them.

Revealingly, heads of state from Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) did not attend the summit, which brought leaders from the other three member states - Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait....

Reports from officials, diplomats and media suggest that Oman, Kuwait and the UAE mounted the strongest objections to the union proposals, fearing being lorded over by the Saudis as well as difficulties in integrating varying social and political systems. A Saudi spokesman was not available to comment.

"The UAE will not accept a single country taking over a union, so that issue has to be clear," a UAE official told Reuters, pointing to the UAE's 2009 withdrawal from a monetary union over Saudi insistence that Riyadh host the central bank.

Asked if he thought the union would eventually happen, the official added: "Let's just say it will take more time."

1020 GMT: King Hamad is among the guests for the Queen of England's Jubilee Lunch, celebrating her 60th year on the throne.

Labour MP Denis McShane, a former Foreign Office minister, condemned the approval of Hamad's presence: "Arab nations must let their citizens vote in free elections and let them speak without fear of arrest, torture or death. For too long we have turned a blind eye to the repression carried out under the rule of royals in Arabia. The [Foreign Office] should protect the British Queen rather than expose her to having to dine with a despot."

Other guests include Swaziland's King Mswati III, Sheikh Nasser Mohamed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait, and Prince Mohammed Bin Nawaf Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia.

A Foreign Office spokesman said Britain's close relationship with Bahrain "allows us to have a full and frank discussion on a range of issues including those where we have concerns. On human rights we support the reforms already under way in Bahrain and we want to help promote that reform."

0925 GMT: The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for the release of Ahmed Radhi, a freelance journalist seized from his home Wednesday in a dawn raid.

Radhi, who previously worked for the pro-regime daily Al-Ayyam and as a correspondent for Lebanon's Al-Manar TV, was arrested after remarks in interviews on Monday and Tuesday about the possible union of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He told BBC Arabic that the union would justify the occupation of Bahrain by Saudi troops, despatched in March 2011 to back the Bahraini regime's crackdown on protests.

Radhi's condition and the charges against him are unknown.

0505 GMT: Today is the 100th day of the hunger strike of human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, given a life sentence last year and now in Jaw Prison.

On Thursday, Alkhawaja's lawyer Mohammed Al Jishi saw his client for  the first time in more than 45 days. He said the co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights "can walk. He is conscious and moves around normally. He is pursuing his hunger strike and subsides on liquids for his survival."

Al Jishi added, "His health has slightly improved because he was force fed" three weeks ago. 

Alkhawja was seized in April, two months after mass protests began in Bahrain. He was one of eight activists and political figures given life terms, while 13 others received sentences of up to 15 years in prison.