Gunmen seized Prime Minister Ali Zeidan from in Tripoli yesterday and held him for several hours before he was freed, in the latest sign of Libya’s lawlessness since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011.
AFP reported that the Libyan premiere was abducted in the early hours from the Corinthia Hotel by former rebel militiamen angry at the weekend capture by US special forces of a Libyan al-Qaeda suspect in Tripoli.
He appeared in good health arriving at government headquarters after his ordeal, waving to waiting well-wishers as he climbed out of an armoured personnel carrier.
The pre-dawn seizure of Zeidan came five days after US commandos embarrassed and angered Libya’s government by capturing senior al-Qaeda suspect Abu Anas al-Libi off the streets of Tripoli and whisking him away to a warship.
Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdelaziz said Zeidan was freed six hours after being seized before dawn.
“He has been freed but we have no details so far on the circumstances of his release,” Abdelaziz told AFP.
Ironically the premier had moved to the hotel for security reasons.
Government spokesman Mohamed Kaabar told the state LANA news agency that the premier had been “freed, not released.” He did not elaborate on how he had been freed.
Moments before news broke of Zeidan’s release, Deputy Prime Minister Al-Seddik Abdelkarim had vowed that the government would not give into the demands of the perpetrators of a “criminal act”.
“The government will not give in to blackmail by anyone,” he said.
Zeidan, who made no immediate comment when he arrived at government headquarters, went straight into a meeting with his ministers and members of the General National Congress — Libya’s highest authority.
Ministers had already met in his absence earlier in the day for an emergency session convened after his abduction.
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.
But the prime minister appeared to play down his kidnapping, characterizing it as an internal political problem.
“I want to reassure the foreigners inside Libya that this issue happened within the context of political Libyan disagreements and the foreigners are not being targeted,” he said.
The Operations Cell of Libyan Revolutionaries, comprising former rebels and which had roundly denounced Libi’s abduction and blamed Zeidan’s government for it, said it had “arrested” Zeidan under orders from the public prosecutor.
But, according to a BBC report, Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani said the prosecutor general had issued no arrest warrant.
The cabinet also said that ministers were “unaware of immunity being lifted or of any arrest warrant” for the premier.
Later, another group of ex-rebels, the Brigade for the Fight against Crime, said it was holding Zeidan, according to the official LANA news agency.
The two groups loosely fall under the control of the defence and interior ministries but largely operate autonomously.
Two years after the revolution that toppled Gaddafi, Libya’s new authorities are struggling to rein in tribal militias and groups of former rebels.
Many Libyans blame political rivalries for the problems plaguing a country awash with militias and weaponry left over from the 2011 rebellion.
Zeidan had on Tuesday condemned the US capture of Libi in Tripoli, claiming his capture was a flagrant violation of Libyan sovereignty.
Libi — real name Nazih Abdul Hamed al-Raghie — was on the FBI’s most wanted list with a $5million bounty on his head for his alleged role in the 1998 twin bombings of two US embassies in East Africa.
He is reportedly being held aboard a US Navy ship in the Mediterranean.
US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday Libi was involved in plots that killed hundreds of people and would be brought to justice.
Source: The Daily Star
