Alleged Libyan Rape Victim Slandered

The New York Times reports:

TRIPOLI, Libya — The Libyan authorities on Sunday attacked the character and credibility of a Libyan woman who burst into a hotel full of foreign journalists to say that she had been abducted and rapedby militia members working for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, calling her “a known prostitute and a thief.”

The woman, Eman al-Obeidy, has become well known in Libya and around the world since the episode at the hotel on Saturday.

She told journalists that she had been raped by 15 men and displayed large bruises on her face and legs, as well as deep scratches. But as she tried to talk, security officials and people who had previously appeared to be hotel workers raced to silence her, at one point even attempting to place a coat over her head.

Her pursuers scuffled with journalists attempting to interview, photograph and protect her. Security officials ultimately dragged her screaming from the hotel and drove her away. But her accusations were heard and the scuffle seen on television networks and Web sites worldwide.

And the experience she described was consistent with longstanding reports of human rights abuses in Libya under the Qaddafi government.

Ms. Obeidy’s mother, Aisha Ahmed, a resident of the rebel-held town of Tobrok, told The Washington Post that Ms. Obeidy was a 26-year-old law student in Tripoli. “I am very happy, very proud,” her mother said, calling Ms. Obeidy a hero.

Ms. Obeidy’s parents reportedly said government officials had called them early Sunday to offer her money and a new house if she recanted. Relatives reached through a rebel activist late Sunday declined to talk.

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