Alleged Libyan rape victim no longer in government custody

By the CNN Wire Staff

April 4, 2011 -- Updated 1937 GMT (0337 HKT)

Alleged Libyan rape victim speaks out

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

·         Eman al-Obeidy says she was released only after a medical exam proved rape

·         The woman who said Libyan government forces raped her speaks to CNN

·         Al-Obeidy says she was interrogated for 72 hours after being dragged from a hotel

·         She says her morale is low and she has nightmares

(CNN) -- Eman al-Obeidy, the woman who burst into a Tripoli hotel to tell journalists she was beaten and raped by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi last month, is no longer in custody but says she still fears for her life.

In two telephone interviews with CNN's "AC360," al-Obeidy spoke about her alleged abuse. At times in tears, at other times defiant, she recalled men pouring alcohol into her eyes and repeatedly using rifles to sodomize her. Al-Obeidy said has since been stopped trying to leave Libya and that she has nightmares.

"My life is in danger, and I call on all human rights organization ... to expose the truth and to let me leave now. I am being held hostage here," she said. "They have threatened me with death and told me I will never leave prison again, if I go to the journalists or tell them anything about what's happening in Tripoli."

Al-Obeidy said she spent 72 hours under interrogation after being dragged away from the Tripoli hotel where she tried to tell journalists about her alleged abuse.

Interrogators poured water on her face and threw food at her during the relentless questioning, which ended only after she was examined by a doctor to prove she had been raped, al-Obeidy said. "And when the test came, it verified that I was raped and tortured ... then I was freed."

She said the public statements from a state TV anchor and government officials, who initially called her mentally ill, drunk and a prostitute, have ruined her reputation. Al-Obeidy said her spirits and morale are low and that she has nightmares now.

"They did not give me a chance to respond," she said.

The attempt to discredit al-Obeidy as a promiscuous, un-Islamic woman ties into the idea of sexual shaming in a conservative Muslim society where it's commonly believed that a woman who has been raped has lost her honor, said Mona Eltahawy, a columnist on Arab and Muslim issues.

For a woman in such a society to come forward to claim she has been raped is no small thing.

"No one would do that unless they were raped, and especially in a conservative society," Eltahawy told CNN.

Al-Obeidy burst into the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli on March 26 while international journalists staying there were having breakfast.

She told reporters she had been taken from a checkpoint east of Tripoli, held against her will for two days and raped by 15 men.

"They had my hands tied behind me, and they had my legs tied, and they would hit me, while I was tied and bite me in my body. And they would pour alcohol in my eyes so that I would not be able to see and they would sodomize me with their rifles, and they would not let us go to the bathroom. We were not allowed to eat or drink," she told CNN's "AC360," speaking through a translator.

"One man would leave and another would enter. He would finish and then another man would come in," al-Obeidy said.

She said another woman being held captive was able to untie her hands and feet, allowing al-Obeidy to escape.

When CNN saw her in March, al-Obeidy's legs and face were bruised and she had blood on her right inner thigh. Her visible injuries appeared to support her allegations, but CNN could not independently verify her story.

Government officials tried to subdue her, scuffling with reporters in the process and eventually dragged her away.

Al-Obeidy said she is no longer in government custody and has spent time with her sister. But she said she cannot leave the house where she is staying as officials from the police or army will pursue her.

She said that when she tries to leave the house, officials chase her down and take her to a police station. But police don't know what to do with her since she is not charged with a crime, and she is released.

Al-Obeidy said she has been abducted by Gadhafi forces three times -- the first time from the hotel, the second time when she tried to escape to Tunisia last week and a third time on Sunday. She said the abduction Sunday and accompanying threats were an effort to prevent her from taking her complaints to a police investigations unit.

In spite of the danger, al-Obeidy said the most important thing to her is that her voice reaches the world.

"I would like to direct a word to all the people watching us in America that we are a peaceful people and we are not members of al Qaeda. We are a simple people and moderate Muslims -- not extremists -- and we are not asking for anything expect for our freedom and dignity and the most basic human rights which are denied to us," she said.

Her father said Monday he has still not spoken to his daughter and begged the international community to come to her aid.

"What is happening to her is wrong. What can I do? I have no power to do anything. I urge the human rights organizations and all international humanitarian movements to get involved and help us," said Atiq Al-Obeidy.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/04/04/libya.rape.case/index.html

-          ING Form	Meaning	Function
1 Being	Ser	After a preposition
2 Being	Ser	After a preposition
3 During	Durante	P.P.C
4 Questioning	Interrogatorio	Noun
5 Speaking	Hablando	P.P
6 Being	Ser	After a preposition
7 Staying	Alojados	Gerund Pharse
8 Having (breakfast)	Desayunar	P.P.C
9 Scuffling	Forcejeo	Gerund Pharse
10 Staying	Alojarse	Present Continuous
11 Accompanying	acompaña	Adjectives
12 Taking	Tomando	After a preposition

Obama urges spending cuts and raised

Obama urges spending cuts and raised

President Barack Obama has called for raised taxes on the rich as well as cuts in government spending in what he termed a balanced approach to cutting the huge US budget deficit.

Mr Obama said: 'We do not have to sacrifice the America we believe in'

In a speech in Washington DC he outlined a package of tax increases and spending cuts aimed at reducing the deficit by $4tn (£2.45tn) by 2023.

He attacked Republican plans he said would harm the poor and elderly.

Republicans have said any increase in taxes is a "non-starter".

"We have to live within our means, reduce our deficit, and get back on a path that will allow us to pay down our debt," Mr Obama said in a speech at George Washington University.

"And we have to do it in a way that protects the recovery, and protects the investments we need to grow, create jobs, and win the future."

The ballooning US deficit is set to be a top issue in the 2012 election campaign, and in recent weeks, Republicans have laid out their own plan to cut it, based on big reductions in healthcare and social programmes for the poor and elderly and in education spending.

“Their vision is less about reducing the deficit than it is about changing the basic social compact in America” President Barack Obama

The deficit is forecast to reach $1.5 trillion (£921bn) this year and both Democrats and Republicans have said cutting it is a priority.

Mr Obama on Wednesday unveiled his own proposal - in a speech in which he used the word "vision" more than a dozen times.

The remarks came after Republicans had accused him of failing to exercise leadership, and many US political analysts said the Republican opposition had seized the political momentum.

Republicans on Wednesday attacked Mr Obama's speech as mere campaign rhetoric, noting he recently launched his re-election bid. Primarily, they firmly rejected his proposal to raise additional tax revenue from the wealthy.

"At a time when millions of our countrymen remain unemployed, the president again proposes tax increases on job creators," said Jeb Hensarling of Texas, a member of the party's House leadership team, calling Mr Obama's speech "class warfare".

Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, chairman of the House budget committee, said: "Exploiting people's emotions of fear, envy and anxiety is not hope, it's not change, it's partisanship. We don't need partisanship. We don't need demagoguery. We need solutions."

Led by Mr Ryan, Republicans have offered their own proposal that would go further than Mr Obama's, slashing $6.2 trillion from government spending over the next decade, in large part through cuts to government programmes that serve the elderly and the poor.

The proposal would also drastically reduce taxes for wealthy Americans, a move conservatives say would boost economic growth.

The House is due to vote on Mr Ryan's proposal on Friday.

In his speech, the president repeatedly drew a contrast with the Republicans' proposal, insisting that spending cuts should not harm the US social safety net, such as the social security retirement system and healthcare programmes for the poor and elderly.

In particular, he singled out the Republicans' proposal to cut taxes for the wealthy while making elderly Americans pay more for their healthcare, as analysts say the Republican plan would work out.

"This is not a vision of the America I know," he said.

"They want to give people like me a $200,000 tax cut that's paid for by asking 33 seniors to each pay $6,000 more in health costs? That's not right, and it's not going to happen as long as I'm president.

"The fact is, their vision is less about reducing the deficit than it is about changing the basic social compact in America.

"There's nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending a trillion dollars on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires."

Bruising battle ahead

Buoyed by the fiscally conservative Tea Party movement, Republicans have won a series of policy victories, including forcing $38.5bn in government spending cuts for the remainder of the current fiscal year.

On Wednesday, Mr Obama also sought to brush back liberals in his own party who warn cutting spending now would hinder the nascent economic recovery.

"Doing nothing on the deficit is just not an option," he said. "Our debt has grown so large that we could do real damage to the economy if we don't begin a process now to get our fiscal house in order."

US political observers expect the fight over the government budget for the fiscal year beginning 1 October to be bruising, as Republicans and Democrats push their competing visions.

Last week, the US government came within an hour of shutting down as Republican and Democratic leaders battled to reach an agreement on a budget for the next six months.

The deal reached just before midnight on Friday cut $38.5bn in government spending to 30 September.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13067836

I want to take this opportunity to improve my knowledge about Ing Forms, just take a look, there are in order of appearance:

Ing Form	Meaning	Function
Spending	Gastos	Noun
Spending	Gastos	Noun
Cutting	Reducir	After a Preposition
Spending	Gastos	Noun
Reducing	Reducir	After a Preposition
Ballooning	Creciente	Adjective
Spending	Gastos	Noun
Reducing	Reducir	PPC
Changing	Cambiar	PPC
Cutting	Reducir	PP
Failing	Fallar	After a Preposition
Noting	Señaló	Gerund Clause
Calling	llamando	Gerund Clause
Exploiting	Explotar	Gerund Clause
Slashing	Rozando	Gerund Clause
Spending	Gastos	Noun
Insisting	Insistiendo	Gerund Clause
Spending	Gastos	Noun
Making	Hacer	PP
Asking	Pedir	After a Preposition
Going	Yendo	Progressive Present
Reducing	Reducir	PPC
Changing	Cambiar	PPC
Spending	Gasto	PPC
Bruising	Golpear	How to
Including	Incluyendo	Gerund Clause
Forcing	Forzar	PPC
Spending	Gastos	Noun
Cutting	Reducir	PPC
Spending	Gastos	Noun
Doing	Hacer	How to
Beginning	Comienza	PPC
Bruising	Golpeado	Noun
Competing	Competentes	Adjectives
Shutting	Cerrar	After a Preposition
Spending	Gastos	Noun