Tripoli:Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was released today several hours after being seized from a Tripoli hotel by former rebel militiamen, the foreign minister said.
“He has been freed but we have no details so far on the circumstances of his release,” Mohammed Abdelaziz told AFP. The pre-dawn seizure of Zeidan came five days after US commandos embarrassed and angered Libyas government by capturing senior Al-Qaeda suspect Abu Anas al-Libi off the streets of Tripoli and whisking him away to a warship.
A source in the premiers office said Zeidan had been taken by gunmen from Tripolis Corinthia Hotel, where he resides.A hotel employee confirmed a pre-dawn raid by “a large number of armed men”.
A government statement said Zeidan had been taken “to an unknown destination for unknown reasons by a group” of men believed to be former rebels.
Two years after the revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, Libyas new authorities are struggling to rein in tribal militias and groups of former rebels
