*pokes flist again* Time to help.

Let Her Go: Rape victim battles on in Pakistan

Terrorism takes many forms.

Mukhtar Mai fell prey to terrorists in 2002, when she was gang-raped in her village in southern Pakistan. The attack was ordered by a village council, which reportedly wanted to punish her adolescent brother for alleged sexual indiscretions. Against all custom and expectation, the daughter of a laborer, now 30, did not then withdraw in shame; she spoke boldly against her attackers.

Six men were tried, convicted and sentenced to death. Ms. Mai's courage also made her an international symbol of women's rights and brought her an invitation for a speaking tour this month in the United States.

But on the eve of her trip, she was spirited away to Islamabad by Pakistani government agents, who told her she was forbidden to leave the country. That set off a fresh round of international news coverage and expressions of outrage from the U.S. State Department.

Pakistani officials then made a show of lifting the travel ban, insisting that they had only meant to protect Ms. Mai. However, she later told the BBC that officials had confiscated her passport. At last report, she was back in her village under virtual house arrest.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf eventually admitted that he had personally blocked her trip to protect Pakistan's image abroad, and he blasted the human rights groups that have befriended her as "Westernized fringe elements" that are "as bad as the Islamic extremists." Equally disturbing, the convictions of five of Ms. Mai's attackers have been overturned, and last week a high-level court blocked attempts to charge and jail them again.

We commend U.S. officials for speaking promptly and forcefully on Ms. Mai's behalf, and we urge them to pressure Pakistani officials until she is allowed to actually leave the country. Pakistan has cast itself as an American ally in the international war on terror, but its actions in this case run horribly counter to that noble role. With Ms. Mai's assailants again on the loose, Mr. Musharraf should consider carefully what will become of his nation's image if further harm should come to her.

HOW TO BE HEARD

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