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Libyan rape accuser Eman al-Obeidy arrives in Romania

By the CNN Wire Staff
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Alleged rape victim flees Libya
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Al-Obeidy was deported from Qatar last week
  • She was on her way to Malta on Sunday, a source said
  • She was reportedly beaten before being deported back to Benghazi last week

(CNN) -- Eman al-Obeidy, the woman who caught the world's attention when she accused members of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces of gang-raping her, arrived Monday at a refugee facility in Romania.

Al-Obeidy had fled Libya and was awaiting resettlement as a refugee in Qatar when she was deported Thursday and sent back to Benghazi in Libya.

On Sunday, a high-level U.S. State Department source told CNN that al-Obeidy was on her way to Malta with her father, and would head to a processing center in Europe before leaving for a final destination. It may take weeks before she gets to that destination.

Another U.S. State Department source said Sunday the United States was deeply concerned about her well-being, and worked closely with officials in Europe and Libya to get her safely out of the country. The same source said the U.S. is "prepared to provide whatever help and support Eman may need."

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  • Libya

Al-Obeidy has told CNN on repeated occasions that she wants to go to the United States.

One of the State Department sources told CNN that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "has been deeply interested in the case and has followed it throughout."

Al-Obeidy was reportedly beaten before being deported from Qatar. Najah Dawaji, a U.S.-based Libyan freedom activist, said she was with three key members of Libya's opposition Transitional National Council when they learned that al-Obeidy was forced from Doha and arrived in Benghazi on Thursday. She said al-Obeidy had a black eye, bruises on her legs and scratches on her arms.

Al-Obeidy told a journalist that officials in the Transitional National Council had pressured the Qataris to expel her.

After arriving in Qatar, al-Obeidy had made public statements saying the Transitional National Council was using her. The council denied that.

Council members were upset upon seeing al-Obeidy's condition and vowed to open an investigation, Dawaji said.

The United States said it was "disappointed" by al-Obeidy's expulsion, which it said was "a breach of humanitarian norms."

Amnesty International called the deportation "outrageous," saying the action by the Qatari government "is a serious breach by Qatar of its international obligations."

CNN's Khalil Abdallah and Nic Robertson contributed to this report.

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