American journalist Clare Morgana Gillis, who was reporting for the U.S. newspaper USA Today in Libya when she was captured on April 5, 2011 along with three other foreign correspondents by forces of Libyan leader Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi, was released after 44 days of imprisonment. A May 25 USA Today article on her experiences during her captivity linked to the following previously released MEMRI TV clip of an April 13 Libyan television show, "The Call of Libya," on Al-Libiya TV; in the show, Ms. Gillis' passport and other belongings were displayed, and it was stated that she was an American spy.[1]
Show host Dr. Hamza Al-Tohami: "Is it conceivable that any people would agree to become an instrument in the hands of Western colonialism?! […]
"You will be amazed by this catastrophe. Here we go. You have these things in front of you. Zoom in on this, my dear producer. People, you are about to witness a catastrophe… Later, we will show specific pages… Gentlemen, this belongs to an American spy. This is her passport. Look, gentlemen. Please, dear producer, show them the cover. This is the cover. United States of America… Our viewers who have been led astray are invited to look. If you think this is not a colonialist game, take a look.
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"This is the passport of the American woman… These are the pages of this passport. You can see the design of a U.S. passport. Note that there isn't a single visa stamp on it. There isn't a single stamp. This is the Statue of Liberty. American visa… There isn't a single stamp here. Here is a ship. This is a U.S. passport, for those familiar with it. This is not a forgery. We did not manufacture it. This woman is named Gillis Clare Morgana. This is Gillis Clare Morgana. She is an American spy.
"She traveled to Qatar… This is the Qatari airplane ticket. This is the Qatari airline. Dear producer, zoom in as much as you can. It says 'Qatar' here. On the back you have the boarding pass. This is a bus ticket of the Southern Bus Company. I don't know if it is from Egypt or from somewhere else… No, it is Israeli. If the producer zooms in… These are Israeli characters on the ticket here. These are Israeli characters, if the producer zooms in… This is Hebrew writing. […]
"Let's look at this woman's diary, in which she puts down every place she goes, with the date. Here, this is the diary. Let's take a look at it, so people can see it. […]
"She writes… Here's a map. This is the road from Bin Jawwad to Benghazi. Here the road to Benghazi passes through a roundabout. Here this is a line pointing to the oil ports. Down here, she wrote 'we forget'… whatever… This is the map… Let people look at it, maybe they will wake up. […]
"This is our country. Do you really want to hand it over to a bunch of despicable scoundrels, who will toy with us? If only they were led by someone honorable and patriotic… If only we could talk with them… But to turn to an American mercenary woman?! Is this honorable?!"
[1] USA Today, May 25, 2011, http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-05-24-clare-morgana-gillis-libya_n.htm
