A Libyan woman who was allegedly gang-raped by Muammar Gaddafi’s troops has told reporters she is not in custody.
CNN said on Monday that Iman al-Obeidi, who made headlines when she was dragged away from Rixos hotel while screaming allegations of rape, had spoken on the phone to reporters from TV networks on the weekend.
However, she was not seen.
The last time she was seen was when she was dragged away from the hotel by security men.
On Sunday a network based in Qatar played a phone interview where a woman claiming to be al-Obeidi said she was examined by a doctor to prove the rape charge.
She told the station that Gaddafi’s forces kidnapped her from a taxi at a checkpoint, raped her and held her captive for two days.
The same woman later told CNN in a phone interview that she had been detained and beaten when she tried to reach reporters in the Rixos hotel for a second time on Sunday.
She also told CNN that she was also stopped from leaving the country at the Tunisian border and returned to Tripoli.
Government officials in Libya have labelled al-Obeidi a prostitute, but it is believed she is in fact a lawyer.