Asimbonanga (We have not seen him)
Asimbonang’ uAlkhawaja thina (We have not seen Alkhawaja)
Laph’ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph’ehleli khona (In the place where he is kept)

Oh the sea is cold and the sky is grey
Look across the Island into the Bay
We are all islands till comes the day
We cross the burning water

Asimbonanga (We have not seen him)
Asimbonang’ uAlkhawaja thina (We have not seen Alkhawaja)
Laph’ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph’ehleli khona (In the place where he is kept)

A seagull wings across the sea
Broken silence is what I dream
Who has the words to close the distance
Between you and me

Asimbonanga (We have not seen him)
Asimbonang’ uAlkhawaja thina (We have not seen Alkhawaja)
Laph’ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph’ehleli khona (In the place where he is kept)

Iran successfully decoded the captured US Drone RQ- 170, and now ready to Clone it
Jafria News – 26 April, 2012

JNN 23 Apil 2012 Tehran : Iran has begun building a copy of the US surveillance drone spy drone RQ 170 it captured last year,after breaking its encryption codes, the commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps announced on Saturday, Iranian Mehr news agency reported.

Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh who was speaking on the anniversary of the establishment of the IRGC also said experts are receiving information from the captured spy plane, and revealed what he said were “codes” gleaned from the unmanned aircraft.

“The Americans should be aware to what extent we have infiltrated the plane,” General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, military aerospace chief said.

“I am giving you four codes so the Americans understand just how far we have gone in penetrating the drone’s secrets,” he told state television.

“In October 2010, the aircraft was sent to California for some technical issues, where it was repaired and after flight tests, it was taken to Kandahar (in Afghanistan) in November 2010, when a series of technical problems still prevailed,” he said.

“In December 2010, it was sent to an airport near Los Angeles for repair of its equipment and sensors, and flight tests. The drone was then sent back to Kandahar,” he said.

Hajizadeh did not give further details, saying: “This aircraft is a national treasure for us, and I cannot divulge information about it.”

But he added Iran has “started producing a copy of the RQ-170 drone,” stressing it used the same US technology in stealth fighters and bombers.

He said that Iran had managed to hack the controls of the drone, thus enabling the Iranians to reverse-engineer the aircraft to make its own copy.

The RQ-170 Sentinel was shown on Iranian state television last December.

The unmanned, bat-winged RQ-170 Sentinel drone went down in Iran four months ago, and Iran’s gleeful military proudly displayed it on state television apparently intact. …more

FAMILY, LAWYER AND DIPLOMATS DENIED ACCESS TO ALKHAWAJA – IS HE STILL ALIVE?:
TIMELINE – 26 APRIL, 2012 – Peter Clifford Online

Today, Thursday, would be the 78th day of Abdulhadi AlKhawaja’s “Freedom or Death” hunger strike – if he is still alive. 75 days is normally the limit for surviving without sustenance and AlKhawaja told his family he would even stop drinking water last Sunday.

Where is AlKhawaja?

The Al-Khalifa Government currently has a news blackout on information around AlKhawaja and his family, his lawyer and the Danish Ambassador have all been prevented this week from speaking with him or making visits.

AlKhawaja’s wife says that she phoned the Bahrain Defence Force medical ward where he was being held on Wednesday after he failed to make his regular Tuesday call to her. A nurse is reported to have told her that his room and bed were empty.

Until a few days ago the Ministry of Interior was saying that he is still “in good health” but activists have reported a large increase in police checkpoints around Bahrain in the last 24 hours, which may indicate that some announcement to the contrary is imminent.

There also seems to have been an escalation in night time police raids on houses in the Shia villages and random arrests to “neutralise” those most likely to demonstrate. The village of Duraz was particularly targeted after an explosion there on Tuesday night injured 4 policemen following a fire inside a shop.

Ban Ki Moon, the UN General Secretary, the US State Department and the EU have all once again this week called on the Bahraini Government to use “every available option” to find resolution over the AlKhawaja case. It may be too late or he is in a coma.
httP://www.petercliffordonline.com/bahrain-news

Zanaib AlKhawaja Protesting in the Road – byshr.org

Zainab AlKhawaja, his daughter, who was arrested last weekend for staging a protest sit-in in the middle of the road in the Financial Harbour district, has been remanded in custody for another 7 days.

Her sister, Maryam AlKhawaja, who acts as international spokeswoman for the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, yesterday addressed the EU Parliament in clear, forthright terms about the poor state of human rights, not just in Bahrain, but throughout the Gulf. …more

Bahrain is still rife with human rights abuses, torture and political imprisonments, says Sara Yasin. No wonder the world was “hostile” to its Grand Prix

It’s time to stop dealing with Bahrain
By Sara Yasin – 26 April, 2012 – Telegraph

In the pages of The Daily Telegraph on Monday, John Yates, the former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police now working in Bahrain advising the government on police reform, claimed that “Bahrainis are bewildered by the world hostility”, and by headlines that suggested a serious safety risk to Formula One teams.

Last weekend, all eyes were on Bahrain, and not for the reason the government had hoped. Coverage of Sebastian Vettel’s victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix was drowned out by a mess of stun grenades, burning tyres, tear gas and Molotov cocktails. Bahrain’s ongoing unrest pushed human rights organisations to call for the race to be cancelled.

Yates says the F1 teams’ safety was never at risk – but in the lead up to the race he claimed that live rounds could be used to make ensure their cars could speed around the Sakhir track. Does Yates seriously expect the world’s press to ignore incidents that included a Force India team mechanic narrowly avoiding being hit by petrol bombs during a clash between protesters and police?

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and Bahraini officials insisted that the show must go on, saying that sport has nothing to do with politics. Sports journalists were left to cover the violent crackdown on protesters and death of one protester – Salah Abbas Habib – on Saturday. His death and the death earlier in the month of another protester are a testament to the failure of reforms in the country.

Those who defend Bahrain’s government claim it is improving – acting to protect human rights, regulate policing and create more transparency. But as we saw this weekend, the situation on the ground is deteriorating. The country has been plagued by protests, peaceful and violent. The protesters do not believe reform is coming. …more

Increased Concern for Al-Khawaja Amid Disappearance
26 April, 2012 – POMED

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja entered his 78th day of hunger strike today, but his whereabouts is still unconfirmed. His wife recalled their last phone conversation on Monday, saying, “”Something is very wrong. He was talking about accepting death as the path of freedom, he sounded very weak and tired.” Al-Khawaja’s lawyer, Mohamed al-Jishi said he is requesting a court order for visiting rights to his client, whom he has not seen since April 4th. Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs Khalid Bin Ali Al-Khalifa said al-Khawaja can make a voluntary choice to end his hunger strike, and assured the BBC that he is being provided with “optimal health care.” Al-Khawaja’s case and the recent increase in reported cases of violence have prompted an official statement from U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, who called for an end to the violence and urged the Bahraini government to find a solution for al-Khawaja’s case. The State Department also issued a travel warning about Bahrain.

Western media has received some criticism for its coverage of Bahrain. Sarah Hildt says the New York Times falsely characterized al-Khawaja’s daughter, Zainab al-Khawaja. “The American media has failed spectacularly in its coverage of Bahrain,” she writes, “Let us at very least not deepen this failure by now slandering and misrepresenting the stance of someone as principled and courageous as his daughter Zainab.” Jihad El-Khazen, writing for Saudi-owned Al Arabiya, attributes poor Western media coverage of Bahrain to “ignorance.” Sara Yasin says the Bahraini government has been given ample time to implement the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’s recommendations, and given the lack of substantial reform, “This means that [the international community] shouldn’t be doing business with the regime, and most certainly should not be selling them arms or inviting them to lunch.” …source