Baida

A few days later Baida was transferred back to the jail in Baquba after doctors determined that she had no psychological disorder.

One day in March, an interpreter told me that Baida had called several times from the psychiatric hospital and wanted to see us again.

It was certainly important to Baida, who felt she controlled little in her life, to feel in control of her death.

When Baida was 17 her mother died, and a few months later, at her father's behest, Baida married.

A week after her wedding, according to Baida, her husband threw a cup of cream at her head; soon beatings became regular.

Baida initially did not plan to become a suicide bomber.

We met Baida in the office of the head nurse for the criminally insane.

The events in Baida, following the airport siege, may provide a preview of the rough justice that could follow any regime dissolution.

Baida called us twice to see "exactly when you are coming" .

"You will like Baida, " he said.

For Baida, as for many Iraqi suicide bombers, violent insurgency was the family business.

The battle for Baida airport is one example of how quickly the tide across Libya has turned against Col. Gadhafi.

The days-long fight for Baida, which began in the first days of anti-Gadhafi protests last week, was described by several witnesses.

'They fired at any unarmed civilians they could find, ' said Mohammad Abduh, an Egyptian who was working in Baida as a painter.

Baida was proud to be a volunteer.

The men were put on buses and taken to an army base in al-Baida.

"We had meetings of 11 people; some came to the meeting with their faces covered, " Baida told me.

Baida and Ranya lost fathers and brothers.

"We consider you a spy, working with them, " Baida said.

I liked Baida immediately.

When I first met Baida in February, she had already been in jail more than two months.

Baida was smiling again.

He added, almost pensively: "I like Baida. She is. . . honest. "