Report: Alleged Libya rape victim released

A woman who told foreign journalists she was raped and beaten by members of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's regime has been freed from government custody nearly a week after she was arrested for the "grave offense" of making the accusations, CNN reports.

Iman al-Obeidi made headlines when she rushed distraught into a Tripoli hotel, 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.

Last week, a government spokesman said she would face criminal charges over the incident and family members said Obeidi was being held at a Qaddafi complex in Tripoli.

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CNN says it spoke to the woman, who said she was free from government custody and had spent time with family in Tripoli.

Al-Obeidi had claimed that she was detained by a number of Qaddafi troops at a Tripoli checkpoint. She said they were drinking whiskey and handcuffed her and that 15 men later raped her.

Al-Obeidi's claims could not be independently verified, but she showed the media wounds she said she suffered at their hands.

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