EU Urges Bahrain to Save Hunger-Strike Jailed Activist

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton on Tuesday urged Bahrain to save a jailed activist on hunger strike whose health is now "a matter of the utmost urgency."

A day after protesters climbed onto the roof of the Bahraini embassy in London in support of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Ashton said there was "serious and profound concern" in the European Union about the case.

Al-Khawaja is a Shiite who was sentenced with other opposition activists to life in jail over an alleged plot to topple the Sunni monarchy during a month-long protest in 2011.

Ashton said his health is "seriously deteriorating and his life is at risk."

"The EU urges in the strongest possible terms the Bahraini authorities to find a compassionate, pragmatic and humanitarian solution... as a matter of the utmost urgency," she said.

The activist began a hunger strike on the night of February 8-9.