MANAMA, 18 July 2004 — Six terror suspects being investigated for allegedly planning to bomb government and foreign interests have begun a hunger strike to protest their detention, a defense attorney said yesterday.
Abdullah Hashim, an attorney for four of the six men, said he hoped they would end the strike, which they began Friday.
“This hunger strike is useless because there is a legal order to keep them in custody and nobody can terminate this order,” Hashim said.
The six men, most of whom are believed to be part of Bahrain’s Salafi movement, were initially detained June 22 but released after one day. They were re-arrested Wednesday after investigators searched their computers and discovered documents on how to make and use bombs and poisons, according to the Interior Ministry.
A seventh man, who holds a British passport, was also being sought after his release last month. He was apparently in Britain.
On Thursday, the prosecutor’s office said the men would be held for 45 days — the maximum time they can be detained during an investigation without being charged.
The men are being held at the Samahij Police Station north east of the capital, Manama.
An Interior Ministry statement on Wednesday said the seven had been in contact with terrorist organizations abroad and had finalized plans to attack targets in Bahrain. Lawyers said the men denied the allegations.
The US State Department has cautioned Americans against traveling to Bahrain and advised Americans living there to leave. The Pentagon ordered the mandatory evacuation of the families of US military and Defense Department personnel following reports that terrorists were planning attacks.
The order affected about 930 people, more than half of whom have already been relocated.
