DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A prominent activist in Bahrain imprisoned since the country's 2011 Arab Spring protests began a new hunger strike Wednesday, seeking to pressure the island kingdom and Europe over his internationally criticized detention.
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja began what supporters described as an “open-ended” hunger strike while detained at the Jaw Rehabilitation and Reform Center in Bahrain. A previous hunger strike by the 64-year-old activist, who also holds Danish citizenship, lasted for 110 days in 2012 — and a doctor now is warning the Danish government that al-Khawaja is already 10 kilograms (22 pounds) underweight and has a heart condition that could worsen.
“Despite Mr. Khawaja’s ability to endure severe malnutrition and dehydration in the past, my assessment is that he will be at high risk of death in a hunger strike of any duration,” Dr. Damian McCormack wrote.
Authorities in Bahrain, an island off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, did not directly respond to questions from The Associated Press about al-Khawaja's hunger strike. However, they contended prisoners in Bahrain faced “fair trials before an independent judiciary,” are ”guaranteed their full rights" and receive care from medical teams that “act swiftly to advise on health risks.”
Human rights group and United Nations experts long have described al-Khawaja as being arbitrarily detained after being given a life sentence by a military tribunal on internationally criticized terrorism charges.
The effort by al-Khawaja appears aimed at trying to renew pressure on Denmark to negotiate for his freedom.
Denmark has over the years talked with Bahraini officials about al-Khawaja, who insist his imprisonment is just and that he is a Bahraini citizen, subject to the kingdom's laws. Al-Khawaja's supporters also say they want to pressure the European Union over his case as well.
The timing of the hunger strike also coincides with this weekend's edition of Bahrain's annual Manama Dialogue, a security summit organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which draws world leaders.
Al-Khawaja lived abroad for years, first as a student in London before facing exile for his activism. He gained Danish citizenship through political asylum.
He returned in 1999 to Bahrain, a majority Shiite Muslim island governed by a Sunni Muslim ruling family, with the ascension of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as the island’s ruler and later king, who initially promised to work more closely with the kingdom’s Shiites.
Al-Khawaja helped found the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and advocated democratic reforms.
However, the Shiites under King Hamad continued for years to complain of being treated as second-class citizens in the kingdom about the size of New York City, with a population of around 1.5 million people.
Al-Khawaja has been held by Bahrain since the 2011 protests, which represented the largest demonstrations against Bahrain’s Al Khalifa royal family, which has ruled since 1783. Bahrain, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, violently put down the demonstrations. In the years since, low-level unrest has plagued Bahrain, with Shiite militant groups occasionally claiming attacks on security forces
Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy's Mideast-based 5th Fleet and is considered by America as a major non-NATO ally. Bahrain also joined the UAE in diplomatically recognizing Israel in 2020 during the first term of U.S. President Donald Trump.
FILE - Maryam al-Khawaja holds a picture of her father, the imprisoned activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, outside the embassy of Bahrain in London, Sept. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, the ship was partially filled with crude.
Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine that U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.
“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.
But other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
