Kidnapped Libya PM Ali Zeidan Is Released

Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been freed several hours after being kidnapped by scores of gunmen in a dawn raid.

Mr Zeidan, who was seized from the Tripoli hotel where he had been staying, said in a Tweet he was fine and his captors had wanted him to resign.

Protesters had reportedly opened fire at the building where Mr Zeidan, 63, was being held to demand his release.

It appeared Libyan forces had intervened in some way and the abductors did not free Mr Zeidan voluntarily.

A militia commander affiliated with the interior ministry told a private Libyan TV station the PM was freed when members of a Tripoli-based militia stormed a house where he was held hostage.

Haitham al Tajouri, commander of the so-called "Reinforcement Force," told Al Ahrar television that his men exchanged fire with the captors but that Mr Zeidan was not hurt.

Government spokesman Mohammed Kaabar told the state news agency that he has been "set free" and was on his way to his office.

The abduction appeared to be in retaliation for the US special forces' raid over the weekend that seized a suspected al Qaeda leader from the streets of the capital.

Mr Zeidan pictured with Prime Minister David Cameron

A group of ex-rebels said it had "arrested" Mr Zeidan after US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed Libya's role in the US capture of Libyan Abu Anas al Libi.

A spokesman for the group, known as the Operations Room of Libya's Revolutionaries, said: "His arrest comes after ... (Kerry) said the Libyan government was aware of the operation."

The militia group, which had been hired by the government to provide security in the city, said it had seized Mr Zeidan "on the prosecutor's orders".

The premier "was arrested under the Libyan penal code... on the instructions of the public prosecutor", it said, adding he was detained for "crimes and offences prejudicial to the state" and its security.

But the public prosecutor's office said it had issued no such warrant for Mr Zeidan's arrest.

Mr Zeidan's abduction reflected the weakness of the government, which is virtually held hostage by powerful militias, many of which are made up of Islamic militants.

He was detained at the interior ministry's anti-crime department, said an official there, and he was reported to be in "good health and was treated well".

He had been taken from the luxury Corinthia Hotel after being seized by up to 150 armed men who arrived in pick-up trucks.

Al Qaeda suspect Abu Anas al Libi was seized by the US last Saturday

Witnesses said a large group of them entered the building, some stayed in reception while others headed to the 21st floor where Mr Zeidan was staying.

The gunmen scuffled with the prime minister's guards before they seized him and led him out at around 5.15am (local time), said the witnesses, adding he offered no resistance while he was being led away.

Sky sources said the man believed to be behind the abduction was Abu Obeiida, who is thought to have taken over the militia group.

The group appeared to post a warning of its intentions on Facebook on Monday. It said it "holds everyone who is involved in co-operating with foreign intelligence" responsible for the "kidnap" of al Libi and "will pursue them and bring them to justice".

Two years after a revolution toppled Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, the fragile central government has been struggling to contain tribal militias and groups of former rebels who spearheaded the uprising.

Sky's Tim Marshall said: "The prime minister of Libya's jurisdiction runs about to the end of his hotel corridor and then stops because there is no real government, certainly in the sense that we understand it.

"It is a lawless place that is falling apart into different factions, tribes, regions, areas and groups. The fact this man has been detained does not alter the trajectory of Libya's spiral into chaos.

"What is very important about the fact that the PM can be taken from his hotel by armed men is symbolic of how bad things have got."

There has been anger among militant groups over the US special forces operation that seized al Libi, whose family met Mr Zeidan hours before the PM's abduction.

Several groups accused the government of colluding in or allowing the weekend raid, though the government denied having any prior knowledge of the operation.

Al Libi, who was whisked away to a US warship in the Mediterranean, is suspected of being involved in the twin bombings of US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 1998.

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