Jailed Islamist dies after hunger strike

An Algerian Islamist died in a Moroccan jail after a two-month hunger strike protesting torture and harsh imprisonment conditions, rights activists said Sunday. Anas al-Halaoui, spokesperson for the Association of Former Imprisoned Islamists in Morocco, confirmed the death. Abdul Rahim Mohtad, the head of  the Islamic prisoner advocacy group, said Ahmed Ben Miloud died last Friday and that he was serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in December of using a firearm in the Algerian consulate in the Moroccan border town of Oujda. There has been no official comment on Ben Miloud's death and the event has not been covered in the state media. Al-Halaoui says that for the last month nearly 160 Islamist prisoners have gone on hunger strike across Morocco, protesting their conditions and claiming torture.