News / Africa

UN Asks for Privacy for Alleged Libyan Rape Victim

A Ministry of Information official, left, yells at the press to stop filming as he  grabs Iman Al-Obeidi, who said she spent two days in detention after being arrested at a checkpoint in Tripoli, Libya,  and was sexually assaulted by up to 15 men while in
A Ministry of Information official, left, yells at the press to stop filming as he grabs Iman Al-Obeidi, who said she spent two days in detention after being arrested at a checkpoint in Tripoli, Libya, and was sexually assaulted by up to 15 men while in
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The United Nations refugee agency on Wednesday appealed for privacy for alleged Libyan rape victim Iman al-Obeidi who has been taken with other refugees to a special center in Romania.

UNHCR spokeswoman Sybella Wilkes told VOA on Wednesday that al-Obeidi is safe and recovering.

The UNHCR center in Romania is for refugees who have undergone significant trauma and urgently need to leave where they are.

Al-Obeidi made world headlines when she burst into a hotel in Tripoli and told reporters that she had been gang-raped by Libyan forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi. She was removed from the hotel by security forces.

Her claims could not be independently verified.

After later escaping by road to Tunisia and traveling to Qatar, al-Obeidi was forced onto a plane and returned to Libya. The U.N. refugee agency on Monday evacuated her to Europe.

The center is staffed with doctors and psychologists. Wilkes said that refugees generally stay about six months before being resettled.

Al-Obeidi's sister, Marwa, has said that she wishes to be resettled in the United States.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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