(Also known as Eman Al-Obeidy)
At the beginning of the NATO invasion of Libya, I watched the footage of Iman Al-Obeidi’s appearance at the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli, and her tearful testimony to the congregated Journalists, claiming she had been gang raped by fifteen of Gaddafi’s forces over a period of two days. I have since been following the NATO atrocities in that country.
A few days ago I thought I would go back to Iman, and see were there any new developments with her story. I was surprised to find that Iman is now living in the United States, and none other than Hillary Clinton arranged her asylum in the US!
I have watched and read all Iman’s subsequent interviews, and even the most bumbling of sleuths could find numerous inconsistencies. Nothing about this girls claims adds up!
The US have milked Iman’s claims to back up their claims that Gaddafi is a despot, and the US and UN must stop him at all costs, even if that entails murdering thousands of Libyan civilians.
Iman al-Obeidi burst onto the worlds TV screens on 26 March 2011
She turned up at the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli, where the worlds journalists were staying to cover the Libyan conflict.[ Sky News Report ] She claims that she got in, and past security by claiming to be an employee, so presumably she would have appeared calm, her hair an appearance seeming normal. Minutes after gaining entry she burst into the restaurant, where journalists were having breakfast, hysterically screaming, her hair dishevelled, and obvious scratches on her face. She was screaming that Gaddafi forces had abducted her 2 days previous, and had continuously gang raped her over the 2 days! She claimed at this stage they handcuffed her, she later claimed on CNN that her hands and feet were tied behind her back!
In her first version of events she claimed that she had escaped, got a taxi, and made her way straight to the Rixos, where she had heard they were foreign journalists staying![?]
She screamed that she wanted to speak with journalists from Reuters and the New York Times![?]
Pretty press savvy rape victim!Quite a few things about Iman’s claims did not add up for me, so I thought I would take a closer look at them.
Firstly, it was inconceivable to me, that anyone who had just suffered gang rape by 15 men over 2 days, day and night, would first make their way to speak with the world’s press!
Anyone who knows anything about the physical and psychological damage, such an ordeal would have caused, would be staggered that the victim decided on this course of action!
By her own account at the time,
She did not seek medical help,
She did not report it too the police,
She did not contact her family or friends,
She did not call at her home for a shower or change of clothes.
Instead she got a taxi and went straight to the Rixos Hotel!
So lets look at Iman’s story from start to present...
She claims that on the 24 of March she was travelling with her brother in law Salih Hamid al-Aguri on the Salahiddeen Road in Tripoli. Their vehicle was stopped by Gaddafi forces at a check point. When they heard her eastern Libyan accent she was asked to produce her identity card. When they realised she was from Tobruk, where rebel forces were active, they decided to detain her.
Presumably if these men were on duty they would have been sober. In a later version of events Iman’s story changed, and she said she was abducted by 2 car loads of Gaddafi forces who were very drunk on whiskey!
While at the hotel she showed journalists her injuries, according to the New York times journalist she had a broad bruise on her face, a large scar on her upper thigh, several narrow and deep scratch marks on her legs, and marks that seemed to come from binding on her hands and feet.
There was at least 50 journalists in the restaurant, not one managed to get a picture of these alleged injuries!?
I have examined all the pictures that were taken of Iman, and I cannot see any bruising on her face. The only injuries that can be seen are light scratches on her face, and very light marks on her wrists.
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| Close up of Iman's face at the Rixos Hotel. No bruises |
Iman claimed that her hands and feet were tied behind her back for the whole 2 days, and she was not allowed to use the toilet. Presumably this meant she had to lie in her own urine and excrement. She claimed that they urinated and defecated on her.
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| This is the position she claims she was held for 2 days. |
She said they poured whiskey in her eyes so she could not see them rape her.
She was sodomised with a Kalashnikov. She was tied up, and they would not allow her to use the bathroom, eat or drink. One man would finish, and another would enter, he would finish and another would enter.
She said they told her, “Let the men from eastern Libya come and see what we are doing to their women, and how we treat them, how we rape them. She said there were other women there, including a 16 year old. She told Cooper other girls were still being held in the building where she was assaulted, and that local residents had complained to the police about it, but that no one had acted to help them.
As rebel forces now claim to be in control of Tripoli, I would have thought that one of the first things they would have done, would be to rescue these women, but they are no such reports. By her own testimony she went straight from her abductors to the Rixos.
The very first thing a rape victim would want to do is shower, by her own testimony she did not, but went straight to the Rixos, presumably smelling of whiskey, urine and excrement!
When she appeared at the Rixos, her hair was tousled, but she looked clean, her hair certainly did not look like there was urine or whiskey on it.
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| Obvious scratches can be seen on her face, and light scratches on her wrists. |
While covered in their urine and excrement, and with her hands and feet tied behind her back, it is also her claim that one after another the 15 men took it in turns to rape her!
Does this sound plausible to anyone else, because it does not seem remotely plausible to me!
Firstly Muslim men are quite fanatical about hygiene and ablutions in particular. The idea that a Muslim man would have sex with a woman who was covered in another mans urine and excrement is not remotely plausible! (Or any man of any religion for that matter)
I can totally understand why the Libyan authorities said she was insane, as her story would have seemed totally insane to them!
Hands and feet tied behind the back would be considered an extreme stress position, and if she had been tied in this way for 2 days the marks on her wrists would have been much more pronounced than what we seen from the photographs.
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| Close up of her wrists. |
Plus having sex with a woman in this position would be at best uncomfortable if not impossible!
While at the Rixos hotel it was reported by the worlds press, that a Libyan official pulled a gun, despite there being at least 50 press filming the whole event, not one person got a photograph of this! It was also claimed that 2 waitress’s pulled knives on Iman, despite Iman’s every move being filmed by the press, not one got a picture of this either!
What can be seen is Iman being led away by Libyan officials and hotel staff. A hotel waitress is seen putting a coat over Iman’s head.
To understand this heavy handed reaction by the Libyan officials and the hotel staff, you first have to understand the Libyan feelings about rape.
Bare in mind that Libya is a fairly strict Muslim country; women on the whole are virgins when they marry, and sex before marriage would be considered a terrible sin. It is actually against the law for sex to be discussed in public, and if a woman is raped this is considered a most grievous crime in Libya.
If a woman is raped this is not just a great shame on the mans family, it is a great shame on the woman and her family, so to the waitress’s that were present that day, Iman’s actions and accusations would have been beyond their comprehension.
The waitresses and officials thought Iman was lying, because in Libyan culture, a woman who had just been gang raped by 15 men would never ever have went to a hotel full of journalists and started making such accusations.
I cannot think of anywhere in the world, where a victim of gang rape, would chose this course of action!
Even in our more liberal Western world, it would seem bizarre that a woman who had suffered this would make her way to a hotel full of journalists, and not seek medical help, or even the comfort of family or friends!
After being taken from the Rixos Hotel by the Libyan officials, she was held for 3 days, at first the Libyans said they had arrested the men concerned, they then said that the men had been freed as Iman refused to have a medical examination. Over the three day period numerous contradictory reports came from the Libyan Officials. Their handling of the entire matter did them no favours PR wise.
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The press reported that Iman was forcefully dragged away, this does not look very forceful to me! Also in this photograph, please note Iman is carrying her handbag, and her nails, have what looks like fresh nail varnish. |
Now, if we transfer this event to a posh London hotel, say the Canary wharf Hilton, or the Ritz, if a very dishevelled woman arrived in the restaurant, and started shouting and screaming, that she had just been gang raped by British police over a two day period, what do you think the staff would do?
They would undoubtedly call hotel security, and she would be removed as quickly as possible!
The Libyan response may have seemed a little heavy handed compared to how it would have been dealt with in the west, but the way the MS press reported it, the words they used, and the unsubstantiated claims, all helped to manipulate the viewer, and paint a very unrealistic picture. The skirmish that was shown between the worlds press, looked to me more like them all rushing at the same time, and knocking each other over, than the reported attacks by Libyan officials.
Between the 3/5 of April she gave numerous interviews with CNN by phone.
On the 6th of April Saadi al-Gaddafi personally arranged for CNN to interview her in person.
During this interview she claimed that at some stage she made her way to a court house to report the crime, but they pulled a gun on her. She does not say when she went to a court, by her own testimony she did not go right after her escape, after her appearance at the Rixos she was questioned by Libyan authorities for 3 days, so it was not then either.
She did not make this claim in any previous interviews with CNN.
In the 6th April CNN interview she said that 2 cars loads of Libyan Gadaffi armed forces took her to one of their residences, and that is where they held her for 2 days.
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| First CNN interview in person with Iman. |
On April the 11 she was interviewed by phone by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro of the national Public radio, in this interview she said was held in a guarded compound!
5 days and 2 totally different versions of the story.
At this stage she elaborated that a 16 year old girl was being held with her, and the girl managed to untie her, she then made her escape by jumping out a window. As there is no more mention of the 16 year old girl, she presumably left her behind!
Was the 16 year old tied as well?
Was she also being gang raped?
Why did she leave her behind?
Why was there no mention of this 16 year old girl until the 11 April?
In the April 6th interview she said one of her rapists was a public official, on the April 11th interview she said one of her abductors was the son of a government minister!
She claims that when she made her escape she was naked, and covered herself in a tablecloth.
It seems a little odd to me that 15 men who abduct a woman to gang rape, tie her up, urinate and defecate on her, would do this in a room where there was a table with a table cloth!
After she jumped out the window she said there was a wall surrounding the compound, (Remember the 6 April interview she was held in the house of one of the abductors).
This wall had an electric gate, and was guarded by 2 African guards.
She then claims that she ran at them armed with a piece of metal that she had found, and they were so scared they opened the gate and let her out!!!!!
Hello! A naked woman holding a table cloth around herself, presumably secured by one hand, and a bit of metal in the other, scared 2 grown men so badly that they opened an electric gate and let her escape!
Is it just me, or does that story seem totally and completely inconceivable?
She then claimed that the people in the neighbourhood helped her, got her a taxi, paid the fare and took her straight to the Rixos Hotel! In this version there is no mention of stopping at a court house. Presumably it was these same people who gave her clothes. The clothes she showed up to the Rixos looked fresh and clean.
Most incredibly, in this interview she claims that she took pictures at this stage of her injuries with her cell phone!!!!!!
Why am I the only person on the net questioning this woman bizarre story! By her own admission she went straight to the Rixos, she did not stop at her home, so she must have had her cell phone with her through the abduction and rape! Why the hell did she not phone for help!
From the photographs taken at the Rixos she is clearly seen carrying her handbag, why did her abductors let her keep her handbag? I searched for the pictures she claimed she took of her injuries, but there is no sign of them on the net.
This woman’s story is so full of holes, I am aghast that none of the reporters that interviewed her questioned these things.
Not one of the journalist that reported her story went to the area where she claimed she was held to interview the people who apparently helped her, not one of them interviewed her brother in law who was supposed to have been with her when she was abducted. No one checked out anything, it was all just reported as fact!
Continue reading Iman Al-Obeidi Propaganda or Truth!
Read also :
Not one of the journalist that reported her story went to the area where she claimed she was held to interview the people who apparently helped her, not one of them interviewed her brother in law who was supposed to have been with her when she was abducted. No one checked out anything, it was all just reported as fact!
Continue reading Iman Al-Obeidi Propaganda or Truth!
Read also :
Rape in Libya raised a NATO war to the level of a Holy Crusade to defend women - http://libyasos.blogspot.com/2011/08/rape-in-libya-raise-nato-war-to-level.html
Hala Misrati, state TV host, kidnapped by jihadists in Tripoli, Libya