Mystery

Eman al-Obeidi, Libyan Rape Accuser, Missing

While government insists she is a prostitute.

The Libyan woman who said she was raped and tortured by members of Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s security forces is still missing, people claiming to be her family said Sunday night. Eman al-Obeidi burst into a hotel housing foreign journalists Saturday and reported that she has been raped and beaten while being held by Gaddafi’s men for two days. Plainclothes officers dragged her away while she talked, beating her and even putting a bag over her head. Government representatives have insisted they have since freed her, but her family said they have no proof and have not heard from her. Four men, including the son of a high-ranking official, have been detained in the incident. The government said it is taking her accusation seriously, but Libyan official Musa Ibrahim said al-Obeidi worked as a prostitute and the police department has “a whole file on petty theft and prostitution.”