-- Just hours after gunmen kidnapped
Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan from a luxury
hotel under the cover of darkness, he was
released unharmed, a government official said.
"He's in good shape, the prime minister, and
headed toward the government offices," said
Nouri Abusahmain, president of the Libyan
General National Congress. "He's fine, he's in
good spirits."
Gunmen captured Zeidan before dawn from
the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli and put him into
a convoy of waiting cars, according to a hotel
clerk who was not authorized to speak to the
media.
The five-star hotel that Zeidan calls home is
popular among government officials, some of
whom reside there, including the justice
minister.
The witness reported no gunfire during the
incident, and said the gunmen were respectful
and "caused no trouble."
Zeidan's office initially called the abduction a
"rumor" on its official Facebook page, but
later posted an update that it was "coerced by
kidnappers to deny the report."
His spokesman told CNN that the prime
minister was kidnapped.
But the Operations Room of Libya's
Revolutionaries, the militia that took him, said
it merely detained him over financial and
administrative corruption charges.
However, the justice ministry said there was no
arrest warrant for Zeidan, calling the move a
kidnapping. Abusahmain said the government
was not aware of the charges, either.
The militia works with the interior ministry -- a
not-altogether uncommon practice in Libya,
which has tried to rein in the many militia
groups unsuccessfully. Instead, various
ministries have teamed up with them for their
own needs, including providing security
services.
Militias have run rampant in the nation since
the revolution that ousted Moammar Gadhafi
two years ago.
In the east of the country, militias are
demanding more autonomy from the central
government, and have severely constrained
Libya's oil output, which is central to its
export revenue.
Last month, Zeidan said the nation is trying to
rebuild after decades under Gadhafi's rule. He
shot down reports that Libya is a failed state.
"We are trying to create a state, and we are
not ashamed of that," Zeidan told CNN's
Christiane Amanpour. "The outside world
believes that Libya is failing, but Libya was
destroyed by Gadhafi for 42 years, and was
destroyed by a full year of civil war. And that's
why we are trying to rebuild it."
Part of Libya's rebuilding involves
reconciliation and accountability, Zeidan said
last month. Libya has an interim president, but
the prime minister holds all executive powers.
Security an issue
Rights groups have said security remains a
main concern in Libya.
"The main problem affecting both justice and
security is that armed militias still maintain the
upper hand," Human Rights Watch said. "They
have various agendas -- financial, territorial,
political, religious -- and operate with impunity
two years after the Gadhafi regime ended.
Successive interim governments have failed to
assert control over these militias, preferring to
contract them as parallel forces to the army
and police."
Ministries under attack
Recent attacks have added to the uncertainty.
Gangs of armed men have surrounded key
ministries, including justice, trying to force out
members of the democratically elected
government.
Libyan Justice Minister Salah Marghani was
forced to evacuate after armed militias
surrounded his ministry in April.
Thriving militias
The nation continues to struggle to rein in
militia groups that menace the nation. Libyan
intelligence services have said the country is
becoming a safe haven for al Qaeda to regroup
and regenerate itself.
Numerous weapons left over after Gadhafi's
downfall are providing groups with different
motivations to form their own militias,
government officials said.
U.S. operation
Days before the Thursday incident, U.S. forces
swooped into Tripoli on Saturday and seized a
Libyan national indicted in American embassy
bombings in East Africa.
Abu Anas al Libi is a suspect in the 1998
embassy attacks in Kenya and Tanzania, and
American officials have described him as "one
of the world's most wanted terrorists."
The militia group said the prime minister's
capture had nothing to do with the arrest of al
Libi. However, three days ago, it issued a
warning that whoever collaborated with
"foreign intelligence services" in the arrest of
the terror suspect will be punished.
It's unclear what role Zeidan played in the
arrest of al Libi by U.S. forces.
But the Libyan government has decried the
arrest of the terror suspect, and its national
congress on Tuesday demanded that the United
States hand him over.
source: www.edition.cnn.com/2013/10/10/world/africa/libya-pm-escorted-away/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Freed just like that,
Without any ransom?

Tolexander: Freed just like that,
Without any ransom?

according to d report, YES.