Iman al-Obeidi Arab Women accused pro-Gadhafi militiamen of gang-raping her. A Shame For All Muslims

Since Iman al-Obeidi burst into the hotel housing foreign journalists in Tripoli and accused pro-Gadhafi militiamen of gang-raping her, she says many people on the streets of the capital have recognized her and praised her bravery. Supportive cab drivers have refused to take her money and in the rebel-held east, she is hailed as a hero.

Recounting her story in graphic detail for the first time alone with two female reporters, al-Obeidi claimed she was brutalized for two days and wept as she recalled the ordeal. She said she was repeatedly raped by 15 different men — one of them a cousin of Gadhafi — who were drinking alcohol that they poured in her eyes, nose, mouth and everywhere. She said she was sodomized with a Kalashnikov rifle.

Al-Obeidi spoke to The Associated Press and another reporter at her home. It was a rare interview without Libyan government minders, who keep almost constant watch over dozens of foreign journalists the regime has invited in to cover its side of the uprising against Gadhafi's 42-year rule of this North African Arab country.