Jailed Bahraini rights activist feared dead

lawyer of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on a hunger strike for over two months to protest against his detention, says the Bahraini rights activist is feared dead. Al-Khawaja’s lawyer Mohammed al-Jeshi said on Monday that Bahraini authorities have turned down repeated requests to contact him since yesterday and that no information was available on Khawaja's health. "Authorities have been refusing since yesterday (Sunday) all requests, made by myself and by his family, to visit or contact al-Khawaja," al-Jeshi told AFP. "We fear that he might have passed away as there is no excuse for them to prevent us from visiting or contacting him," he added. Manama authorities have yet to response to allegations that Khawaja has died in prison. Khawaja, the co-founder and former president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, began a hunger strike in early February to protest against the life sentence he received last year and Manama’s ongoing crackdown on peaceful protests.