European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday january 26, 1996 stars and stripes Page 17 khad Afy s Call to totally liberate libyan women by Jennifer Parmelee associated press t he 16-year-Oldfnslruclor s dangling pin earrings tremble slightly As she hoists rocket launcher to her shoulder and take smack aim at the sky. It s very heavy but i works very Well Alsha Abdullah Ells a group of new recruits on a vast open Cement court is the women s military Academy in Libya s capita Tripoli. A Large portrait of cot. Moa mar khad Afy watches Ove the training session irom a nearby building. Abdullah is one of about 350 Young women at the school. Ii and an All female school for pilots in mls Urata Ara the most prominent symbols of khad Afy s slated drive to totally liberate woman in  we Are answering the Call of our Leader to All Arab women of All Arab nations to Speed up the arming of the people says 1st it. Nourlan asses 22, who wears her hair in a neatly coiffed Bun under a military hat. We believe woman should stand beside her countryman. This is Equality Between Man and woman this should not be just in Paradise but in hell. And by hell i mean  Khadely s Call however does not appear to have been heeded by ail members of that traditional North african country of More than 3 million. The idea of a woman in arms a Radical one Lor most Arab societies has met with stubborn resistance from Many sectors according to libyan and Western observers. Although the Tripoli Academy has graduated close to 1,000 officers since opening in 1978. Wool enters say they know libyans who have pulled their daughters out of regular school where military training is on the curriculum because they Don t want them to train As soldiers in Early f 034, the Basic people s congresses the grass roots governing groups charged with making policy decisions suspended women s military training. But that decision was reversed Ai the insistence of khad Afy who blamed Rea colonary forces and warned we will not give any further opportunities to any forces which have no stake in the  in a recent interview khad Afy 43, conceded that some libyans resent the overturning of traditional ideas such As keeping women at Home but 1 Leal my ideas Ara spreading he said. Homemaking is still the no. 1 occupation of libyan women according to Western and libyan observers. Even libyan feminists Wilh outside jobs argue that a woman s Chloel unction is at Home. Men still overwhelmingly dominate Public life from the Board room to the Coffee shop. And Young women seeking a career Ere Apt to choose the roles of nurses teachers or secretaries. You can t expect at this Early stage to have women in High places says Khadija Mohammed Al Jahmy. 69, a Pioneer of women s rights who became the first female broadcaster in Libya 29 years ago. There is still a Long journey to Fuli liberation. We libyan woman Soldier Aimi antitank weapon during training of women f military Academy in Tripoli. Wind flute at women military Academy. Must Hava More education become Mora involved in politics speak More openly she says. She recounts How she once went to khad Afy in the Early 1970s and complained that women s opinions were not being respected at people s Congress meetings. He said go Back and impose your Seit. Nobody is going to help win your fights but yourself " Al Jahmy said. Today in televised Congress sessions women Ara of ten among the most vocal participants making speeches and chanting anti american slogans alongside the men. Women have made big gains in education and in the eyes of the Law. The number of women University students has multiplied fivefold since khad Afy s 1969 coup though they Are Stit outnumbered three to one by men. Comparable numbers of boys and girls receive primary education government figures show. Child brides have been legally barred and arranged marriages allowed Only with the woman s consent although observers say few girls Challenge parental authority. Liberalized divorce Laws allow women a nearly equal say in the decision. Before the revolution a Man could break up the marriage simply by repeating to his wife three times in Public  yet an unmarried woman who gets pregnant must marry her Lover or face prison Wilh her child put in an orphanage. Abortion is illegal except in rare cases endangering the Mother s health. Polygamy still exists although khad Afy is trying to erase the practice by barring families from owning More than one Home Al Jahmy says a woman who to not married by age 30 is considered unhappy a failure by society. Khad Afy assails other Arab nations for keeping their women oppressed and paralysed and recently invited six Western women journalists lot an interview because i would like to see a world of men and women  Khadely s wife Safia 32, no longer wears the Hijab or traditional islamic covering which he says has no  but a majority of libyan women still do and Many Young military recruits Wear head scarves