Iman al-Obeidi, whose story about allegedly being raped and beaten by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has captured attention around the world, wants international humanitarian groups to come to Libya and "see how life is here," she has told CNN in what's believed to be her first face-to-face interview with Western journalists since her dramatic appearance at a Tripoli hotel on March 26. That day, she burst into the hotel to tell reporters about her ordeal — only to be dragged away by security personnel. She told NPR earlier this week that she she was held for another 72 hours and now continues to be harassed and beaten if she tries to leave her home.
The cable news network hopes to air its interview with her this hour. But, it reports, "the Libyan government is insisting on a review of the interview by a government representative before transmission. The review was scheduled Wednesday night, but an apparently imminent airstrike postponed the review until Thursday morning."
CNN's Nic Robertson, though, about what Obeidi had to say. Among those messages:
-- "#EmanAlObeidy is a very strong woman who asked me to thank all people around the world who have stopped her case from disappearing."
-- "#EmanAlObeidy is recovering physically from her rape.. she showed me the bruising & rope burn marks on her wrists are fading however..."
-- "However her ordeal continues: she is unable to leave Tripoli to be w/her family & she is harassed whenever she leaves her house"
Update at 12:10 p.m. ET. Video Of The Interview:
CNN has now posted video of Nic Robertson's interview and report.
Update at 10:22 a.m. ET. Audio Of The Interview:
CNN has put audio of the interview online here.
[Note: NPR follows Associated Press style on the spelling of Obeidi's name. CNN and other news organizations use other spellings.]
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