Alleged Libyan rape victim's mother would slap Gadhafi if she could

CNN Wire Staff

Tobruk, Libya (CNN) - Aysha Ahmed and Attique Saleh lived in silence for more than four decades under the ironfisted rule of Moammar Gadhafi. But not anymore. Not after they watched their daughter manhandled and dragged away from a Tripoli hotel.

Eman al-Obeidy's parents told CNN Tuesday they are no longer afraid to publicly condemn the Libyan strongman, an act that would have been unthinkable just weeks ago.

If Gadhafi were to face Ahmed now, she would slap him, she told CNN Tuesday.

Al-Obeidy burst into the hotel housing international journalists in Tripoli Saturday and told them she had been raped by 15 militia men. Cameras captured the drama as al-Obeidy, sobbing and screaming, wanted the world to know the brutality of Gadhafi's regime.

The Libyan government said al-Obeidy has been freed and that a criminal case is underway. The men accused of raping al-Obeidy have filed counter-charges for slander, Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said Tuesday.

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