Is Rape Now A Weapon Of War In Gaddafi's Army?

Moammar Qaddafi's Viagra War? -- Turtle Bay, Foreign Policy

Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council today that there is another good reason to confront Libyan forces. Moammar Qaddafi has reportedly been passing out tablets of Viagra to his front line troops to help them rape women.

Rice made the allegation in a closed-door meeting of the Security Council after facing criticism from council members that the Western-backed coalition has effectively sided with Libya's rebels in the country's ongoing civil war. China, Russia, India and other have expressed concern that the NATO-backed military coalition has exceeded its mandate to protect civilians, and had become a party to the country's conflict.

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More News On Rape Being Used As A Weapon Of War In Libya

U.S. says Gaddafi troops raping, issued Viagra: envoys -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Viagra allegations raised amid Libya divisions at UN -- AFP
Gaddafi Troops Raping, Issued Viagra: U.S. Envoys -- Huffington Post
Report: Gadhafi Forces on Viagra-Fueled Rape Spree -- Newsmax
Fuelled 'by Viagra', Gaddafi's troops use rape as a weapon of war with children as young as EIGHT among the victims -- Daily Mail
Gaddafi thugs 'rape children while pumped up on Viagra' -- Daily Mirror
Save the Children Reports Gaddafi Militia Raping Children in Libya -- Gather
Charity says children raped during Libya conflict -- Reuters
Alleged Libyan rape victim says she lives in constant fear -- CNN
After Rape Report in Libya, Woman Sees Benefit in Publicity -- New York Times

Rape victim wants gun ban law changed

Gadhafi seizes woman who claimed rape, mom says

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Parents of a Libyan woman who claimed she was detained by Moammar Gadhafi's troops and later gang raped said in interviews aired Monday that their daughter is being held hostage at the Libyan leader's compound in Tripoli.

Iman al-Obeidi made headlines when she rushed distraught into a Tripoli hotel on Saturday, seeking to tell foreign reporters about her rape. She was tackled by waitresses and government minders and dragged away from the site in an ensuing melee.

In interviews broadcast Monday on satellite Al-Jazeera Television, al-Obeidi's parents countered government claims that their daughter had been set free after the hotel incident and was now with a sister in the Libyan capital. They also countered allegations of a government spokesman who had said she is a prostitute.

The parents said al-Obeidi is a lawyer and that she is now being held at Gadhafi's compound in Bab Al-Aziziya in the capital. It's unclear where the parents spoke from and Al-Jazeera did not provide their names. The Associated Press only identifies rape victims who volunteer their names.

"I don't feel ashamed, instead my head is up high," the mother told Al-Jazeera, saying her daughter "broke the barrier that no other man could break" by coming forward about her rape.

In the Al-Jazeera footage, the teary-eyed mother holds the Libyan opposition flag around her shoulders and says al-Obeidi is "a hostage, taken by the tyrants." She also pleads for help from the "youth of Tripoli."

The mother says she received a phone call Monday from an unidentified caller, purportedly from the Gadhafi camp, telling her al-Obeidi is held at the Tripoli compound and asking her to instruct her daughter to change the rape claim in return for freedom and other benefits.

"Whatever you ask for, you will get: build a new house or get the money," the mother said the caller offered.

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim claimed in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that al-Obeidi was a prostitute who has since her out burst at the Rixos Hotel been freed and is staying with her sister in Tripoli.

The government also said four men were interrogated in the case, including the son of a high-ranking state official.

In the Al-Jazeera interview, the father held forth a photograph he said showed al-Obeidi graduating from Law School. He said she was pursuing a postgraduate degree.

Al-Obeidi had told foreign media on Saturday that she was detained by a number of Gadhafi troops at a Tripoli checkpoint on Wednesday. She said they were drinking whiskey and handcuffed her. She said 15 men later raped her. Al-Obeidi's claim could not be independently verified.

The London-based Amnesty International said al-Obeidi's account was "stomach-churning" and called on authorities to launch "an independent and impartial investigation" into the case, reveal al-Obeidi's whereabouts and set her free.

"The Libyan authorities have a long record of silencing those who dare speak out against human rights violations," Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director, said in a statement.

"It is all the more worrying that they did not hesitate to do this, using heavy-handed methods, despite the presence of the international media," Smart said.



Women hold a picture of Eman al-Obaidi during a protest in Benghazi March 27, 2011. Al-Obaidi made a desperate plea for help on Saturday, slipping into the Tripoli hotel full of foreign journalists to show bruises and scars she said had been inflicted on her by Muammar Gaddafi's militiamen. As reporters gathered to hear her story, security guards grabbed the woman, bundled her into a car and drove her away following a brawl in which several journalists were beaten.

Tennessee Moves Ahead With Outlaw Sharia Law, Law.

A Republican lawmaker in Tennessee will continue advocating proposed legislation that would make it a felony in the state to knowingly support Shariah law despite criticism that the "shocking" bill is bigoted, he told FoxNews.com.

State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, said the bill, S.B. 1028, will be amended to allow the "peaceful practice" of Islam. He rejected calls to withdraw the legislation following a news conference on Tuesday held by several civil rights and interfaith groups 

denouncing the proposal. State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, said the bill, S.B. 1028, will be amended to allow the "peaceful practice" of Islam. He rejected calls to withdraw the legislation following a news conference on Tuesday held by several civil rights and interfaith groups denouncing the proposal.

"[The bill] does not outlaw or in any way punish or target the peaceful practice of Islam," Ketron told FoxNews.com on Wednesday. "It targets those terrorist Shariah organizations, those who are extremists. It has nothing to do with how they worship."

The bill, if passed, would allow the state's attorney general to designate an entity as a Shariah organization if the organization knowingly adheres to Shariah; if the organization "engages in, or retains the capability and intent to engage in" an act of terrorism; or if the act of terrorism of the organization "threatens the security of public safety" of Tennessee residents.

According to the bill, Shariah is defined as a "set of rules, precepts, instructions, or edicts which are said to emanate directly or indirectly from the god of Allah or the prophet Mohammed and which include directly or indirectly the encouragement of any person to support the abrogation, destruction, or violation of the United States or Tennessee Constitutions, or the destruction of the national existence of the United States or the sovereignty of this state, and which includes among other methods to achieve these ends, the likely use of imminent violence."

Feb. 14, 2011: Tennessee state Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, speaks about his bill that would require Tennessee voters to show photo identification before they can cast ballots, outside the Senate chamber in Nashville, Tenn. Ketron is a main sponsor of a bill that would make it a felony in Tennessee to follow some versions of the Islamic code known as Shariah. (AP)

The bill continues: "Under this bill, any rule, precept, instruction, or edict arising directly from the extant rulings of any of the authoritative schools of Islamic jurisprudence of Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali, Ja'afariya, or Salafi, as those terms are used by Shariah adherents, is prima facie Shariah without any further evidentiary showing."

Violations of the proposed law would be a Class B felony, punishable by fine and a prison term of up to 15 years. Ketron said he's confident the legislation will be passed when introduced to the state's General Assembly next month.

"I feel personally that we probably have the votes to pass this," he said. "There are so many different arms of Shariah and depending on how people interpret and follow those laws, some become extremists. That's what this bill addresses."

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the bill would make it illegal to be a Muslim in Tennessee if passed.

"The bill's sponsor talks about not infringing on the religious rights of Muslim, yet he goes on to name every school of Islamic thought to be prima facie evidence of terrorism," Hooper told FoxNews.com. "We just hope adults will intervene at some point in the Legislature to drop this nonsensical, un-American and unconstitutional bill. When are conservatives going to say enough is enough here?"

Bill Nigut, southeast regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, noted that a similar measure passed in November by Oklahoma voters that banned the use of Shariah law in state courtrooms was later blocked by a federal judge pending the resolution of a lawsuit calling it unconstitutional.

"In general, we find this kind of legislation more about marginalizing the Muslim community rather than doing something to better protect the entire community," Nigut said. "I do worry that it feeds into a faulty perception that Muslims obey laws separate from U.S. and state law in Tennessee."

Nadeem Siddiqui, a 35-year-old American Muslim entrepreneur who attended Tuesday's rally in Nashville, told The Associated Press that the proposal was "overly broad" and declares "all Muslims and their practices" to be illegal.

"Shariah law is how I know how to fast in the month of Ramadan; how I wash before my prayers," Siddiqui told The Associated Press. "It also directs me in how much charity I need to give to the poor. It orders me to be honest and fair in my business dealings."

A spokeswoman for the state's attorney general said the office would not comment on the legislation. Calls seeking comment from Gov. Bill Haslam were not immediately returned on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Herb London, president of the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said he found the legislation to be perfectly legitimate and thinks it will eventually be passed.

"When Shariah law is incompatible with constitutional law, the constitution of the United States should transcend Shariah," London said. "It is far more important and is the basis for our civilization. There's a growing understanding that Shariah is not compatible with the democratic principles we live. This is not something we want embrace in America. It's not compatible with our way of life."

 h/t: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/02/tennessee-lawmaker-continue-push-make-following-shariah-felony/?test=latestnews