Libyan PM seized from hotel in response to US raid

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been taken by armed men from a hotel in Tripoli, with a rebel group claiming it was their retaliation to Libya's role in the recent US capture of a top Al-Qaeda leader. "His arrest comes after the statement by (US Secretary of State) John Kerry about the capture of Abu Anas el-Liby, after he said the Libyan government was aware of the operation," said a spokesperson for the group calling itself the Operations Room of Libya's Revolutionaries, RT reported. The group has promised that it will pursue all other people it sees as having anything to do with the recent raid by US forces in collaboration with the Libyan government. Security sources first told local media on Thursday that armed units grabbed Zeidan from the Corinthia Hotel in the Libyan capital and took him to an unknown location, Reuters says. The reports were later confirmed by a government statement. The hotel’s security guards also confirmed the reports, with one guard describing the situation as an "arrest." Government officials could not be reached for comment at the time. Al Arabiya was citing the country’s justice minister as saying that Zeidan was "kidnapped," showing also some video stills that clearly displayed Zeidan with a troubling facial expression and with his shirt unbuttoned at the collar. He was being led out by armed men wearing civilian clothes. The latest report on the incident comes from a group claiming to be rebels who kidnapped Zeidan in retaliation for his government's role in assisting the US in the recent capture of a suspected top Al-Qaeda leader. Less than a week ago, the suspect was seized by US forces in a raid in Tripoli. The incident has angered radical Islamist groups in the country, including the one that is thought to have been involved in the 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi. The suspected terrorist, Nazih Abdul-Hamed Ruqai, also going by the alias Abu Anas el-Liby, was sought by the US for his alleged participation in the 1998 bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. "The Libyan government is following the news of the kidnapping of a Libyan citizen who is wanted by US authorities," Zeidan said in the days shortly before being taken, as cited by Reuters. "The Libyan government has contacted US authorities to ask them to provide an explanation. " Zeidan was reported to have expressed fears that if he is accused of complicity with the US over the capture of Liby, which could lead to his confrontation with the Islamist part of the government that came to power following West-helped Muammar Gaddafi’s ousting two years ago. British Foreign Secretary William Hague has lashed out at the kidnapping and demanded Zeidan be set free. "I condemn the abduction of the Libyan Prime Minister in Tripoli this morning and call for his immediate release," Hague told the press. "Our Ambassador is in touch with other members of the interim Government. It is vital that the process of political transition in Libya is maintained," he added. Since Gaddafi's deposal, the country has been in chaos, involving many players and factions all vying for power in different parts of the country, with the government still trying to bring the situation under control.