Gunmen seized Prime Minister Ali Zeidan from a Tripoli hotel Thursday, amid conflicting reports over whether he was formally arrested or abducted by lawless former rebels who helped topple dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
The pre-dawn seizure of Zeidan comes 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.
A source in the premier’s office said Zeidan had been taken by gunmen from Tripoli’s 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.
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 of the public prosecutor.
The group, which in principle reports to the defence and interior ministries, said on Facebook it had seized Zeidan “on the prosecutor’s orders”.
It said he was detained for “crimes and offences prejudicial to the state” and its security.
But the cabinet said on its Facebook page 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 brigade added that Zeidan “will be well-treated”, the agency reported.
Thursday’s government statement said it suspected both the Operations Cell of Libyan Revolutionaries and the Brigade for the Fight against Crime of being behind the raid that netted Zeidan.
Both groups loosely fall under the control of the defence and interior ministries but largely operate autonomously.
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