TRIPOLI — Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan was kidnapped by gunmen who snatched him from his hotel and held him for several hours Thursday in apparent retaliation for a US special forces raid that captured an Al-Qaeda suspect in the capital last weekend. The brazen abduction, which ended with Zidan's rescue, underscored the lawlessness gripping Libya two years after the ouster of autocrat Muammar Gaddafi. The weak central government is virtually hostage to multiple, independent-minded militias — many of them made up of militants — that serve as security forces and hold sway across the country. The gunmen who abducted Zidan were believed to be militiamen, and it appeared he was freed when members of another militia stormed the site where he was being held. Thursday afternoon, after authorities announced he had been freed, Zidan spoke at a Cabinet meeting aired live on Libyan TV. He thanked those who helped free him but provided no details and avoided pointing fingers at those behind the abduction. “We hope this matter will be treated with wisdom and rationality, far from tension,” he said. “There are many things that need dealing with.” The incident raised alarm over the power that militias hold over government officials. The militias originated in the informal brigades of “revolutionaries” who fought Gaddafi's forces in the 2011 revolt against his rule. Since Gaddafi's ouster and death, the groups have resisted efforts to disarm them, multiplied in number and mushroomed in size. With the regular police forces and army weak and in disarray, the government has had to enlist some militias to act as security forces. But 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. They frequently lash out at officials to get their way. Last month, the son of the defense minister was abducted, and there are frequent killings of security officials who cross militiamen. “The abduction is like the shock that awakened Libyans. Facts on the ground now are clearer than never before: Libya is ruled by militias,” said prominent rights campaigner Hassan Al-Amin. The motive for Zidan's abduction was not immediately known. But it comes after many militants and militias expressed outrage over the US raid on Saturday that seized Al-Qaeda suspect Nazih Abdul-Hamed Al-Ruqai, known by his alias Abu Anas Al-Libi. Before daylight Thursday, around 150 gunmen in pickup trucks laid siege to downtown Tripoli's luxury Corinthia Hotel, where Zidan resides, witnesses told The Associated Press. A large group of them entered the building, some stayed in the lobby while others headed to Zidan's residence on the 21st floor. The gunmen scuffled with the prime minister's guards before they seized him and led him out at around 5.15 a.m., said the witnesses, speaking on condition of anonymity because they feared for their own safety. They said Zidan offered no resistance while he was being led away. The circumstances of his freeing were unclear. In the afternoon, government spokesman Mohammed Kaabar told the LANA new agency that Zidan had been “set free.” The brief report gave no further information. But it appeared Libyan forces had intervened in some way and that the abductors did not free Zidan voluntarily. A militia commander affiliated with the Interior Ministry told a private television station that members of a militia stormed the house where Zidan was held hostage and rescued him. — AP
