The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) said the prisoners agreed to suspend the strike, which started on Aug 7, until Sept 30 to allow implementation of the promised changes.

The Bahraini government said in a statement sent to Reuters that the inmates had ended the hunger strike.

“The inmates on hunger strike have decided to end it as of Sept 11, 2023, after visiting hours were reorganised, the hours of open air access were increased, and the number of contacts that could be contacted was increased too,” the statement said.

BIRD’s Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, a Bahraini activist living in exile, said the government had shown some flexibility, adding the proposed deal also included ending isolation for some prisoners.

However, prominent opposition figure Abdulhadi al-Khawaja resumed his hunger strike today after authorities did not allow him to get to a scheduled medical appointment, his daughter, Zainab, told Reuters.

The government did not respond to questions on al-Khawaja’s case or whether the compromise was linked to a visit by Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to the US.

But it said Bahrain looked forward to building ties during the crown prince’s official visit to Washington this week.

The Sunni Muslim Al Khalifa dynasty has largely kept a lid on dissent since Riyadh sent troops to help it crush an “Arab Spring” uprising in 2011 by the mostly Shi’ite opposition, and the hunger strike is the biggest organised protest in years.

Bahrain was the only Gulf monarchy to face serious unrest during the Arab Spring protests, with demonstrations that continued, in lower numbers, until 2013.