BAHRAIN: MOTOR RACING - Wife of hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja accuses Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone of ignoring her husband's plight ahead of upcoming controversial Formula One Grand Prix

Record ID: 340771

  • Title: BAHRAIN: MOTOR RACING - Wife of hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja accuses Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone of ignoring her husband's plight ahead of upcoming controversial Formula One Grand Prix
  • Date: 19th April 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) WIFE OF HUNGER STRIKER, KHADIJA AL-MOUSAWI, CRYING AND TALKING ABOUT LAST CALL BETWEEN HER AND HER HUSBAND (RECEIVED ON WED MORNING), SAYING: "He calls everyday for five minutes and that is a relief for me at least I know that he is okay and that's why today's phone call is the most important call for me because he stopped IV (drip) and minerals and g
  • Embargoed: 4th May 2012 13:00
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  • Location: Bahrain, Bahrain
  • Country: Bahrain
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAAFDMF79JTLFM8EJM7VC5G8B0K
  • Story Text: The wife of a jailed Bahraini activist on hunger strike has accused Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone of ignoring her husband's plight ahead of Sunday's controversial grand prix in the troubled country.
    Pausing occasionally to wipe away tears and gather composure, Khadija al-Mousawi told Reuters in an interview in her apartment outside Manama on Wednesday that she supported Bahrain having the race.
    However, she said the 81-year-old F1 boss had missed a chance to do something to help the pro-democracy movement and her husband Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.
    Last time al-Mousawi was allowed to see her husband was on Sunday (April 15) and she said he didn't look good.
    "Thank god he was stable, very weak, he looks like someone in his last stages of cancer, his eyes were sinking, blackness under his eyes, his hands cold as ice, his health was dire," she said.
    Wiping her tears away, al-Mousawi said she spoke to al-Khawaja on Wednesday morning (April 18) as he confirmed he will stop the drip feed.
    "He calls everyday for five minutes and that is a relief for me at least I know that he is okay and that's why today's phone call is the most important call for me because he stopped IV (drip) and minerals and glucose from this morning, sorry (wipes tears)."
    Bahrain has been in turmoil since a democracy movement erupted last year, and was crushed initially with the loss of dozens of lives. Al-Khawaja, who also has Danish citizenship, was jailed for his role in leading the protests.
    He has been on hunger strike for two months and is in hospital being fed intravenously while there are almost daily clashes between police firing tear gas and protesters armed with petrol bombs.
    The grand prix has been presented by the country's rulers as a force to unify the nation, with the slogan "UniF1ed, one nation in celebration" to be seen on banners and hoardings around Manama.
    Chequered flags alternate with the red and white of Bahrain on roundabouts and junctions. On the surface, daily life appears normal with a low-key police presence even on the approach roads to the Sakhir circuit.
    "I think Formula One is a great thing to happen to Bahrain," said al-Mousawi. "It makes Bahrain very well known throughout the world and this makes us happy... my daughter Maryam was one of the people who always insisted on going to the race."
    "What makes me angry is people like Ecclestone who decides to come to Bahrain because he thinks everyone is happy," said al-Mousawi, one of whose daughters was at a large protest in Manama later in the evening.
    "I can assure you that I am not happy. My family is not happy."
    Ecclestone told reporters in China last week, when the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) confirmed the race was on, that all the teams were happy to go to the Gulf kingdom, he said nothing was happening and it was quiet and peaceful.
    Formula One teams and drivers who have arrived in Bahrain have avoided talking about the political situation, with their pre-race previews focusing entirely on sporting matters, and have kept a low profile.
    Reporters more used to watching cars going around in circles have instead being writing about street clashes and demonstrations.
    Bahrain Circuit chairman Zayed Al Zayani, who has assured teams that they will be safe, told Reuters that the sport was right to avoid making any political statements.
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