Released

Libya Says Woman Claiming Rape Is Free

Government claims she is a prostitute.

The story of a Libyan woman who claimed she was gang-raped by Gaddafi thugs keeps getting weirder: The Libyan government is claiming that Eman al-Obeidi is now free and is in Tripoli with her sister. Four men, including a senior police officer, were interrogated in connection with her charges. Al-Obeidi burst into a Tripoli hotel Saturday and told journalists that 15 of Gaddafi’s men had held her captive for two days while raping her and urinating and defecating on her. She had cuts and bruises on her body, and was brutally silenced and taken away by police. Announcing her release, a government spokesman claimed that she was a prostitute who refused to submit to a medical exam. "This girl is a prostitute. She has her rights completely, but the girl is not what she pretended to be, this is her line of work,” he said. Al-Obeidi’s appearance at the hotel caused chaos on the scene and sparked international outrage.