Hunger striker's daughter arrested

Bahraini police arrested the daughter of an opposition activist who has been on a hunger strike in prison for 70 days, officials said. Zainab al-Khawaja, daughter of Shia activist Abdul Hadi al-Khawaja, attempted to organize a protest Saturday near Manama's business district, Ahmad al-Jaffar, an activist with al-Wefaq, a Shiite opposition party said. "She tried to express her protest against the actions of the authorities who have held her father in jail," al-Jaffar said. "She says his days are counted, but the authorities have shown no reaction." A senior police official told the Bahrain News Agency Zainab al-Khawaja "will be referred to the public prosecution after disobeying orders not to stand in a restricted area in front of the Interior Ministry's entry and assaulting a public employee on duty." Abdul Hadi al-Khawaja was sentenced to life in prison for allegedly plotting to topple Bahrain's monarchy -- he has been on a hunger strike in protest of his arrest. Doctors say his condition is critical, RIA Novosti reported Sunday.