LONDON (AP) – Two protesters climbed onto the roof of the Bahraini Embassy in London on Monday, unfurling a banner in a protest aimed at the Gulf state’s ruling family.
An Associated Press photographer saw two men waving a flag on the building’s roof. On Twitter, a user identifying himself as Moosa Abd Ali said the activists had occupied what he called the “Al Khalifa den,” a reference to Bahrain’s ruling family.
A banner draped over the building carried pictures of hunger striking human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and senior Shiite opposition leader Hassan Mushaima, both of whom were sentenced to life in prison in Bahrain after last year’s pro-democracy protests there.
“Over 60 days on hunger strike,” the banner read, in reference to al-Khawaja.
Al-Khawaja, who holds both Danish and Bahraini citizenship, is the focus of an international campaign aimed at securing his release. Daily rallies by his supporters in Bahrain have frequently drawn a violent response from security forces, while Denmark’s prime minister has described the activist’s condition as “very