Bahrain Live Coverage: Activist Alkhawaja Ends His 110-Day Hunger Strike

Claimed footage of a convoy of security forces scattering a demonstration by women in A'ali on Sunday

See also Monday's Bahrain Live Coverage: Activist Nabeel Rajab Released from Detention

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1525 GMT: Activists are reporting that their colleague Zainab Alkhawaja, detained since 21 April, has been released.

Alkhawaja, the daughter of detained human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, has been briefly held on several occasions since the start of mass protests in February 2011, but this was her first extended stay behind bars. She was fined last week for alleged assault of a policewoman and was being held for participation in illegal marches.

0745 GMT: Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has again said that a union of Gulf Co-operation Council states is "imperative" because "attempts to sow sectarian chaos are rife".

The Prime Minister put out the remarks as he received a Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation: "Unity, cohesion and work in the framework of collectiveness form the best way to address these attempts. Therefore, there is an urgent need to have a union through the present co-operation between the GCC countries."

Talk of political union, particularly between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, escalated sharply earlier this month, but the Saudis --- probably because of opposition from other GCC nations --- backed away from the idea at a summit in Riyadh.

0515 GMT: Monday was marked by two significant developments. Nabeel Rajab, the head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, was released on bail after 23 days in detention, while Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, the detained founder of the Center, ended his 110-day hunger strike.

We watch now for moves by the opposition. The Center offered a statement on behalf of Alkhawaja that the activist had reached "his overall goal of shedding light on the ongoing human rights situation", yet it also admitted that he had "not succeed[ed] in achieving the main demand of his hunger strike, 'Freedom or Death'". Alkhawaja, who was handed a life term last June, and many other activists and political figures are still behind bars, with no signs of concessions by the regime over demands for their release and for significant reforms.

But does the freeing of Rajab signal a move by the monarchy towards a resolution? EA's John Horne speculates:

A theory --- US and Crowd Prince have negotiated to ensure that Ibrahim Sharif [a prominent activist serving a five-year sentence] will get a swiftish release, we'll start seeing more about his ability to unite, being Sunni) and a leader of the opposition society Wa'ad, and Rajab will increase his calls to see Sharif as the next Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, Wa'ad have distributed a well-produced documentary narrating events since February 2011 and challenging the regime's suppression: