group" of men believed to be former rebels, the government said in a brief statement on its website. A source in the prime minister's office said Zeidan had been abducted from Tripoli's Corinthia hotel, where he resides.
The rebels escorted the PM from the Corinthian Hotel in Tripoli to a convoy of waiting cars, said a hotel clerk.
No gunfire was reported during the incident. The witness said the gunmen were respectful and “caused no trouble.”
One guard described it as an “arrest”, reported Reuters, though circumstances were unclear.
The abduction comes five days after US commandos seized senior al Qaeda figure Abu Anas al-Libi -- indicted for the twin 1998 bombings of US embassies in east Africa -- off the streets of Tripoli and whisked him away to a warship.
The cabinet and the General National Congress, Libya's top political authority, were dealing with the situation the statement said, while calling on citizens to remain calm.
The government said it suspected two groups of ex-rebels, the chamber of revolutionaries and the brigade for the fight against crime, which in principle fall under the defence and interior ministries, of being behind the abduction.
Government officials could not immediately be reached to give more details.
Al-Arabiya television channel quoted Libya's justice minister as saying that Zeidan had been "abducted" and showed what it said were video stills of Zeidan frowning and wearing a grey shirt undone at the collar surrounded by several men in civilian clothes pressing closely around him.
The US State Department was looking into the reports of the incident and was "in close touch with senior US and Libyan officials on the ground," spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
by Hindustan Times
Agencies
Tripoli (Libya), October 10, 2013
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