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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A rights group says Bahrain has denied entry to a Danish lawmaker and a European rights activist who were attempting to enter the country to visit a detained Bahraini-Danish citizen.
Lars Aslan Rasmussen of Denmark's Social Democratic party and Brian Dooley were aiming to put a spotlight on the arrest of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, co-founder of the Gulf Center for Human Rights, where Dooley is an adviser.
Dooley says airport officials held onto their passports Wednesday for more than 14 hours.
The government, which has routinely barred rights groups and some journalists from entering the country in recent years, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Al-Khawaja was detained in 2011 during anti-government protests by the country's majority Shiites. He is currently serving a life sentence.
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