Bahraini activist moved to hospital

The jailed Bahraini activist, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike for 56 days, has been moved to a police hospital according to the government and his lawyer. Reuters said that he was moved to a clinic in the Public Security Fort after losing 10kg (20lb) in weight with low haemoglobin, though not at critical levels Lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi said Khawaja, who is striking to protest against his incarceration, had decided to take only water from now on. He had been drinking a chemical mix including glucose. Khawaja is one of 14 men in prison for leading a pro-democracy uprising last year after revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. He is serving a life term. An appeal hearing began this week. Khawaja's family have identified him as case number eight in abuse recounted by unnamed detainees in the November report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, which Manama formed after international pressure to investigate the unrest. The detainee underwent surgery on his jaw after he was beaten up on arrest on April 8. The account says that abuse resumed eight days later, including beatings on the soles of his feet and being sodomised with a stick. The report says the detainee went on hunger strike at that time in an effort to stop the torture.