Freed Libyan PM arrives at government HQ

TRIPOLI - Agence France-Presse

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan (C) arrives at the government headquarters in Tripoli on October 10, 2013 shortly after he was freed from the captivity of militiamen who had held him for several hours. AFP PHOTO

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan arrived at government headquarters in Tripoli on Thursday shortly after he was freed from the captivity of militiamen who had held him for several hours.

Several government ministers and members of the General National Congress (GNC) -- Libya's highest political authority -- welcomed Zeidan at the gates of the compound as he got out of an armoured personnel carrier amid exceptional security measures.

The premier appeared in good health after his ordeal and waved to a waiting crowd of well-wishers.
 
He was to chair an extraordinary cabinet meeting in the presence of several GNC members.

Ministers had already met in his absence earlier in the day for an emergency session convened after his abduction from the Tripoli hotel where he lives by former rebel militiamen.
 
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.

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.

Two years after the revolution that toppled Gadhafi, Libya's new authorities are struggling to rein in tribal militias and groups of former rebels.