Bahrain orders retrial for hunger striker, others

Bahrain has denied entry to a member of the European parliament who the opposition said wanted to check on the situation of jailed hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and other political prisoners.

Ana Gomes, who arrived in Bahrain on Sunday, "was denied an upon-arrival visa and was directed to secure a proper visa through official channels," Bahrain's official news agency BNA reported in an English-language statement.Gomes, a Portuguese socialist, had "provided information that raised the suspicions of Bahrain airport officials upon her arrival to the country," said the statement released late Monday.

"When the airport officials questioned the information provided, the MP changed her answers which raised further concern," it added.

The main Shiite opposition group, Al-Wefaq, "condemned" what it said was an attempt by the Bahraini authorities "to hide the real situations of the Bahraini prisoners of conscience from being circulated to the political campaigners worldwide."Bahrain's highest appeals court on Monday ordered the retrial of 14 opposition activists, among them Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike since February 8.