Libya PM Zeidan Freed After Kidnap At Gunpoint

Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has appealed for calm after he was freed from a dramatic kidnap at dawn by gunmen at the Tripoli hotel where he is living.

The brazen abduction seemed to be in retaliation for a raid by US special forces in the capital over the weekend that saw a suspected al Qaeda leader seized.

In an appearance on state television, Mr Zeidan said: "I hope this problem will be resolved with reason and wisdom," adding that he hoped there wouldn't be any "escalation."

The gunmen who abducted Mr Zeidan were believed to be militiamen, and it is thought he was freed when members of another militia stormed the site where he was being held.

After he was released, the PM thanked those who helped free him but provided no details and avoided pointing fingers at those behind the abduction.

Mr Zeidan said: "We hope this matter will be treated with wisdom and rationality, far from tension. There are many things that need dealing with."

Haitham al Tajouri, a commander from a militia group called the Reinforcement Force, told Al Ahrar television that his men exchanged fire with the captors.

Ali Zeidan (c) arrives at the government HQ after being freed

A group of former rebels, which had been hired by the government to provide security in the city, 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.

The group, known as the Operations Room of Libya's Revolutionaries, said it had seized Mr Zeidan "on the prosecutor's orders" - but the public prosecutor's office said it had issued no such warrant for his arrest.

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

The PM was detained at the interior ministry's anti-crime department, said an official. He had been taken from the luxury Corinthia Hotel after being seized by up to 150 armed men who arrived in pick-up trucks.

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.

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.

Mr Zeidan pictured with Prime Minister David Cameron

But with the regular police forces and army weak and in disarray, the government has had to enlist some militias to act as security forces.

However, they often remain more loyal to their own agendas and commanders than the state, and many have hard-line Islamic ideologies sympathetic to al Qaeda.

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."

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

David Cameron's spokesman said on Thursday afternoon the British Prime Minister had spoken to his Libyan counterpart.

"They talked about how the UK would continue to support the Libyan government ..." the spokesman said. "Including support in helping them overcome the security challenges that they face."

He did not say in concrete terms, what that support would involve.

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.

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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