Community | March 26, 2011 | 103 comments

Libyan Woman Claiming Rape by Gadhafi's Soldiers, Is Dragged Away (AP)

source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hFFmOUI9PwWwpGXaJCcTx5xl8L0w?docId=6bb9459...

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twinite

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hFFmOUI9PwWwpGXaJCc...

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A distraught Libyan woman stormed into a Tripoli hotel Saturday to tell foreign reporters that government troops raped her, setting off a brawl when hotel staff and government minders tried to detained her.
Iman al-Obeidi was tackled by waitresses and government minders as she sat telling her story to journalists after she rushed into the restaurant at the Rixos hotel where a number of foreign journalists were eating breakfast.
She claimed loudly that troops had detained her a checkpoint, tied her up, abused her, then led her away to be gang raped.
Her story could not be independently verified, but the dramatic scene provided a rare firsthand glimpse of the brutal crackdown on public dissent by Moammar Gadhafi's regime as the Libyan leader fights a rebellion against his rule that began last month.
The regime has been keeping up a drumbeat of propaganda in the Tripoli-centered west of the country under its control even as it faces a weeklong international air campaign against the Libyan military.
At a hastily arranged press conference after the incident, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said investigators had told him the woman was drunk and possibly mentally challenged.
Before she was dragged out of the hotel, al-Obeidi managed to tell journalists that she was detained by a number of troops at a Tripoli checkpoint on Wednesday. She said they were drinking whiskey and handcuffed her. She said 15 men later raped her.
"They tied me up ... they even defecated and urinated on me," she said, her face streaming with tears. "The Gadhafi militiamen violated my honor."
The woman, who appeared in her 30's, wore a black robe and a floral scarf around her neck and identified herself. She had scratches on her face and she pulled up her black robe to reveal a bloodied thigh. She said neighbors in the area where she was detained helped her escape.
The Associated Press only identifies rape victims who volunteer their names.
As al-Obeidi spoke, a hotel waitress brandished a butter knife, a government minder reached for his handgun and another waitress pulled a jacket tightly over her head.
Al-Obeidi said she was targeted by the troops because she's from the eastern city of Benghazi, a rebel stronghold.
The waiters called her a traitor and told her to shut up. She retorted: "Easterners — we're all Libyan brothers, we are supposed to be treated the same, but this is what the Gadhafi militiamen did to me, they violated my honor."
It soon turned into a scene of chaos with journalists attempting to protect the woman from government minders who physically attacked and intimidated her.
Journalists who tried to intervene were pushed out of the way by the minders. A British television reporter was punched, and CNN's camera was smashed on the ground and ripped to pieces by the government minders.
Eventually the minders overpowered the woman and led her outside, shoving her into a car that sped away. Al-Obeidi kept crying that she was certain she would be thrown in jail. She begged photographers to take her picture, raising her robe to show them her bruised body. A minder tried to cover her mouth with his hand to keep her from talking.
"Look at what happens — Gadhafi's militiamen kidnap women at gunpoint, and rape them ... they rape them," al-Obeidi screamed.
She said she wanted to be taken to see the leader himself.
"I want to see Moammar Gadhafi. Didn't he say that every victim will have justice? I want my rights," she said.
The government spokesman said the woman was under investigation.
"The investigators did phone me and told me the lady is drunk and that she seems to be suffering mentally," Ibrahim said. "They are checking on her health condition, her mental condition, whether she was really abused or if these were fantasies."
Gadhafi's crackdown has been the region's most violent against the wave of anti-government protests sweeping the Middle East. Tensions have been rising between foreign reporters in the Libyan capital and the government minders who have sought to tightly control what they see and whom they talk to. Most of the international press corps is being housed at the Rixos hotel.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hFFmOUI9PwWwpGXaJCcTx5xl8L0w?d...
  1. groups:
    Community,   News and Politics,   Politics
  2. tags:
    Rape,  Gadhafi,  Lybia,  War Propaganda
  3. recommended by:
    Vierotchka
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103 comments // Libyan Woman Claiming Rape by Gadhafi's Soldiers, Is Dragged Away (AP)

  • theknopfknows
    • 0
      theknopfknows  
    • Image

    • Women and children are being abused all over the world, examples are to many to record. Half the world population is female and 2/3 of those women have little rights are abused daily. Look at S. Africa President Zuma raped a know aids victim domestic worker when asked if He was worried He replied "BUT I TOOK A SHOWER". Pres, Clinton watch 33, 000 women raped in Haiti, not far from Florida! Rape in the Congo, is so bad that I shake can´t tell find out for yourself, ugly. THE PROBLEM IS ALWAYS HAS BEEN MEN AS A GROUP! WE MEN NEED TO STEP ASIDE AND LET WOMEN TAKE OVER:

    • 2 years ago
  • Schnookums
  • KB723
  • 2damax
  • UrbanGypsy
    • +3
      UrbanGypsy  

    • These totalitarian regimes have no respect for anything or anyone. There is nothing sacred, not even the honor of a woman. These types of regimes destroy the social fabric of society and have no respect whatsoever for human rights.

      As far as I am concerned, a regime such as Gaddafi's loses all legitimacy and sovereignty when they begin to brutalize the people and society. A world without that man will be a better one.

      I hope that she eventually has her justice.

    • 2 years ago
  • Danny_Mcstotts
  • hnhm32
  • KB723
  • twinite
    • +3
      twinite  

    • I just can't stop wondering what this womans fate was after she was dragged from the room. It's so sad , she viewed this as her only chance to get the word out.

    • 2 years ago
  • Debra_
    • Debra_  
    • This comment was removed as a violation of community guidelines.
  • moodyblue
  • Debra_
  • CalgarC
  • twinite
    • +7
      twinite  
    • Debra_:

      For whatever idiotic reason, you seem to need to take most stories to a disgusting racial place. This isn't a story about anybodies race, it's about a woman being raped and tortured. You do recall there is another story in the news about a small group of American "soldiers" killing Afghans for sport. Neither story has a thing to do with race, but rather the underlying atrocities of war. You just keep spewing your hatred, somehow, it looks natural on you.

    • 2 years ago
  • Debra_
    • -7
      Debra_  
    • twinite:

      There is nothing racist about what I said. And you're an idiot! Obviously, I know this is about I women being raped as I harshly expressed my disgust about that fact.

    • 2 years ago
  • twinite
    • +4
      twinite  
    • Debra_:

      I have no interest in getting into a shouting match with you, (figuratively of course) I simply thought a little reasoning might help....but alas, there are none so blind as those who will not see. Your views are your own, enjoy them, just don't be surprised when people react with disgust.

    • 2 years ago
  • Debra_
    • -6
      Debra_  
    • twinite:

      You have shown nothing that would be able to convince anyone that you are capable of reasoning. Why would anyone listen to someone who just calls names?

    • 2 years ago
  • KB723
    • +5
      KB723 [removed]  
    • Debra_:

      Exactly, however it was You who said "sand rats" and "apes"
      Sheesh, you even called twinite an "idiot" and then make such a comment as to who would listen to someone that just calls names???

      Please!!!!

    • 2 years ago
  • twinite
    • +5
      twinite  
    • Debra_:

      Perhaps if you tried reading my post slower, you will see I called the reasoning behind the racist remark idiotic. It is you who began with and continued the name calling.....catch a clue!!

    • 2 years ago
  • KB723
  • twinite
  • KB723
  • Danny_Mcstotts
    • +10
      Danny_Mcstotts  
    • Debra_:

      You must have severe mental issues. The first time I saw you on here you were calling for the mass genocide of Africa and the Middle East in the name of global warming because they are somehow less than us and you then continue to attack Cal for telling you you are nuts. Then you were calling Clarence Thomas a uncle tom and other racist names(as if his character isn't enough to attack him on) I called you out on it and you as a old white lady say "He hasn't lived the African American experience" (not sure what you know about that?) Then you described all men as pigs and should be castrated because 20 degenerate perverts in Texas raped an 11 year old girl(I and Im sure every other man on here think of those men as sick perverted trash that should spend eternity in prison) Then yesterday you say you know nothing about the constitution nor care about it and we need to give up our privacy to fight Cyber terrorism(Im guessing you stick your head in the sand an awful lot and im not quit sure how you get it out of your ass long enough to do so) And now today you are back to racist dimwitted comments and wont admit stupidity. IM REALLY STARTING TO THINK YOU ARE A PAID TROLL PLANT THAT IS PUT HERE TO LOOK LIKE AN IGNORANT LIBERAL!

    • 2 years ago
  • Debra_
    • -8
      Debra_  
    • Danny_Mcstotts:

      You have done nothing but personally insult me and everyone else since you have gotten here. You are a stalker. I have been here for a long time. No one knows you and no one wants to know you. Go back under the internet rock you came from because NOBODY WANTS YOU HERE!

    • 2 years ago
  • Debra_
  • Debra_
    • -8
      Debra_  
    • KB723:

      Well if you notice I didn't reply to anyone, I just posted my comment. So she is indeed calling me names when she could have posted above me. I didn't want to fight with her but she seems to have a chip on her shoulder and she is taking it out on me.

    • 2 years ago
  • Danny_Mcstotts
    • +5
      Danny_Mcstotts  
    • Debra_:

      "NOBODY WANTS YOU HERE" you say......I'm not the one with a cold shoulder badge am I? I rarely get negative feedback, I get positive responses, I dont say racist things constantly, I dont call for genocide. I think its the contrary and nobody wants you here..... you really live in your own world dont you?

    • 2 years ago
  • Debra_
  • Danny_Mcstotts
    • +5
      Danny_Mcstotts  
    • Debra_:

      You are a pathetic lowlife racist. I post plenty of comments and stories and I participate all over this website. Whenever people call you out on your ignorance YOU attack them and say moronic things. You call it stalking if you havent noticed that you get called out all the time by everyone and you consistently have negative feedback this is because the extreme ignorance in your comments, not because people are stalking you or want to personally insult you(how do you tell someone they are nuts without insulting them?)

    • 2 years ago
  • Debra_
    • -6
      Debra_  
    • Danny_Mcstotts:

      I have reported you. You done nothing but stalk me and personally attack me tonight from post to post despite me wanting nothing to do with you. You are indeed a stalker who has been seeking me out. You need to grow up.

    • 2 years ago
  • Danny_Mcstotts
    • +6
      Danny_Mcstotts  
    • Debra_:

      That is fine I haven't done anything wrong but voiced my opinion to your racism. I've already reported you tonight for your racist comment, if you haven't noticed it has been removed.

    • 2 years ago
  • twinite
    • +3
      twinite  
    • Debra_:

      Well they have removed your post and that's a great beginning, but I sincerely hope they take it a bit farther and review all your hate filled posts and remove you as well.

    • 2 years ago
  • Prijedor
  • Prijedor
  • CalgarC
  • CalgarC
  • Prijedor
  • 2damax
  • CalgarC
  • figgdimension
    • +2
      figgdimension  

    • Any country of the world ...you know who you are ! Yea im talking to YOU! if your military and govt uses its power and destructive forces against the people know that we the people of the world will no longer stand idly by we will be there and the consequences may or may not be military(depending on how WE decide is most effective and necessary) as in Egypt or Tunisia but when you use violence expect our support of your immediate demise as a leader of that country be it in moral,emotional,physical even militarily . But know this The REAL peace loving people of the world are now wide awake watching your every move you are never alone we control your own surveillance cameras we see where you are every second through data you cant discern and never will ,...because we are changing it as we speak..! There are no borders there are no countries we are a world people that must find peace and expect the Best for us and our fellow citizens of this world that is ours not yours .. Time is running out we're giving you a head start i would advise you to run run hard and never look back because we are coming for you. You know who you are!..FREE PEOPLE of the World Unite or Die!

    • 2 years ago
  • KB723
  • figgdimension
  • KB723
  • artemis6
  • theknopfknows
    • -2
      theknopfknows  

    • RAPED BY 15 MEN and still able to run around scream, now in for interrogation, that means the first multiple rape did not work, so they will rape her some more! SAME HERE USA; TSA RAPES EVERYONE!
      BRADLE MANNING TORTURED NAKED SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, by lots of military MEN!
      When it comes to torture both Gadaffi & USA are equal,
      Lame duck Obama and Killer daffy Duck Gaddafi,
      Torture is good business right MR: BUSH:

    • 2 years ago
  • UrbanGypsy
    • 0
      UrbanGypsy  
    • theknopfknows:

      It is an insult to all the people in Libya by trying to compare the level of abuse that the Gaddafi regime has perpetrated on them with some of the abuses that the US has done. Not even comparable.

      Show some respect - at least to the people in Libya.

    • 2 years ago
  • KB723
  • figgdimension
    • +5
      figgdimension  

    • Disgusting treatment of a victim of violent crime by soldiers...Those Libyan military must have got there rape etiquette from the republicans " you weren't raped it was a fantasy ", Yea right! (who would lie about thatand a muslim women what a strong and fearless muslim women amazing) any questions about the severity of iron fist control of this despot tyrant

    • 2 years ago
  • DianaCancer
  • covelogibbs
  • DougChristian
  • ArchDruid
  • covelogibbs
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  
    • ArchDruid:

      Stop arming them and supporting them when they play ball with you. Actually base relations on human rights adherence regardless of what they can do for you in the way of oil revenues.

    • 2 years ago
  • Bama_Lori
    • +7
      Bama_Lori  

    • I cannot imagine living in such a country that does not protect its citizens, and then accuse her of being drunk, then changing that to insane when the room of reporters were heard saying NO!.

      The waiters, waitresses, and "government minders" all tackled her, pushing and shoving, trying to muzzle her from telling the world of her torture! She pulled away her robe and showed the bruises and cuts on her, it was horrible!

      I hope she gets justice and SOON! I fear for her life; I pray military forces will intervene soon; the madness of Gadaphi must be stopped!

      Video link here: http://www.charter.net/video/play/486466/channels/reuters

    • 2 years ago
  • PzLuvHappeniz
    • +5
      PzLuvHappeniz  

    • they could have denied, instead they crack down on her which really just proves their guilt. These soldiers are monsters. What a courageous woman.

    • 2 years ago
  • stupidamericanz
    • -7
      stupidamericanz  

    • Forgive people for not believing but americanz pull this lie to get war support many time

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmfVs3WaE9Y&feature=related
      Nayirah al-Ṣabaḥ (Arabic: نيره الصباح‎), called "Nurse Nayirah" in the media, was a fifteen-year-old Kuwaiti girl, who alleged that she had witnessed the murder of infant children by Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait, in verbal testimony to the U.S. Congress, in the run up to the 1991 Gulf War.[1] Her testimony, which was regarded as credible at the time, has since come to be regarded as wartime propaganda.[2] The public relations firm Hill & Knowlton, which was in the employ of Citizens for a Free Kuwait, had arranged the testimony.[1]
      (Wikipedia)

      Her father was the Kuwaiti ambassador to the USA; he is sitting right next to her during the hearing but he pretends not to know her.

    • 2 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • stupidamericanz
  • Vierotchka
  • stupidamericanz
  • Vierotchka
  • corderodedios
    • -2
      corderodedios  
    • Vierotchka:

      Prove she was lying? How are we supposed to do that? And does it matter? War entails atrocity without exception. Murder squads, gang rapes, what's not to believe? Killing innocent children? Of course! Black ops, propaganda, planted lies to sway public opinion? Of course!

      Unless you really want to be someone's tool, sit back, take a deep breath, and try to stay afloat in this Sea of Lies. And don't believe anything you don't see with your own eyes, and even then it might be staged. In his book, The Ascent of Man, and also in the excellent series of video essays from the '70s, Jacob Bronowski concluded "all war is theft." All you need to understand is who's doing the stealing, and what they are stealing. Follow the money. That is, besides taxpayer money. Here in Libya, it's oil and gold. To allow your understanding to be fogged by lies is an exercise in ignorance. War itself is the crime. What comes with it (killing, rape, etc) is part of the package. And to kill folks to prevent the killing of folks, well, welcome to the monkey house.

    • 2 years ago
  • stupidamericanz
    • -5
      stupidamericanz  
    • Vierotchka:

      I just say I question everything from american because they lie to get war support every time that is all I mean. I understand for you and many other here this is more about support for Obama not about support libya people

    • 2 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • stupidamericanz
  • Vierotchka
  • stupidamericanz
  • Vierotchka
  • Aaron_Brutus
  • figgdimension
  • trut
  • stupidamericanz
  • stupidamericanz
  • Vierotchka
  • Vierotchka
  • stupidamericanz
  • Vierotchka
  • UrbanGypsy
  • Schnookums
  • samthesixth
  • trut
  • KB723
  • notrepublican
    • +4
      notrepublican  
    • trut:

      The really messed up thing is how the Gadafhi supporters acted, not the rape itself. You don't call someone a traitor and crazy person when the claim to be raped, you stupid asshole.

    • 2 years ago
  • figgdimension
  • moodyblue
  • corderodedios
    • -3
      corderodedios  
    • Image

    • "Her story could not be verified but provided a rare glimpse..." Verified?

      Well, since her stated goal was to tell foreign reporters her story, it must be true. After all, why would she lie? Doesn't it make you just hate Gadhafi? Make you angry?

      Maybe there'll be pictures, like this:

      http://www.aztlan.net/iraqi_women_raped.htm

      How about this: let's send our kids over there to kill their kids, and let their kids kill our kids. Maybe they'll create death squads and go murdering unarmed civilians for sport. Maybe women will be raped. Hey, soldiers will be soldiers. But it's all in the service of Big Oil, so it's all justified, even the big lie.

    • 2 years ago
  • DougChristian
  • stupidamericanz
  • stupidamericanz
  • Vierotchka
  • DougChristian
  • Vierotchka
  • figgdimension
  • figgdimension
  • corderodedios
    • 0
      corderodedios  
    • DougChristian:

      Read my post again. I'm not defending rape in the least. What happened, if it did, is an atrocity. Read all these posts again. Look at the anger and hatred in the folks here. Look at the link I posted. What do muslims think when they see what is posted there, whether it is true or not? The link to the main posting tells us in so many words that Gadhafi is personally responsible for this atrocity. He's not. It's his soldiers, driven to hatred by war. I suppose the muslim media tells their people that Obama is personally responsible for the rape and murder of muslim women. He's not. It's his soldiers, driven to hatred by war.

    • 2 years ago
  • corderodedios
    • -1
      corderodedios  
    • Vierotchka:

      Perhaps. But are you guessing? Is it what you want to believe? How do you know this? What porno film are you talking about? We already know our soldiers organized themselves into groups of killers and stalked and murdered unarmed innocent Afghan civilians. If there hadn't been confessions, what would you have believed it? These atrocities are not a cause of war, they are caused by war, but the final result will be that this reporting will be a cause of war, which will in turn cause more atrocities. Think it through.

    • 2 years ago
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • corderodedios:

      Not perhaps but certainly, I'm not guessing, and I don't have a wish to believe. This picture was part of a lot that came out several years ago, allegedly from Iraq, but were proven to be taken from porno films and photos.

    • 2 years ago
  • twinite
  • ozoneocean
    • -5
      ozoneocean  
    • twinite:

      Seriously?

      I fear for ALL Libya.

      Even if her story is actually true, (the urination and defecation part seem intended to add a little too much drama here), the purpose of reporting it in this sensationalist fashion without any attempt to seriously verify it is to distract you away from the real situation here: A western sponsored rebellion against an Arab government.

      This is what is known as propaganda ;)

      Of course the woman's claims should be treated seriously and investigated properly, by the press and human right officials, but it should not be used as further propaganda fuel in support of Western imperialisim and aggression.

    • 2 years ago
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