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Libyan civil war
Libya’s deputy industry minister Hassan al-Droui has been shot dead during a visit to his hometown of Sirte, east of the capital Tripoli.
Local media quoted officials as saying unknown gunmen “sprayed bullets” at Hassan al-Droui near a central market.
It is the first assassination of a member of Libya’s transitional government.
Libya’s deputy industry minister Hassan al-Droui has been shot dead during a visit to his hometown of Sirte
Libya has suffered continuing lawlessness since the overthrow of Col Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011.
The motive behind Hassan al-Droui’s assassination is unclear.
Hassan al-Droui was a former member of the National Transitional Council, the political arm of the 2011 uprising.
He was appointed to his role by the transitional government’s first prime minister and kept his position when Ali Zeidan took over.
Sirte was the site of the final battle of Libya’s civil war, during which Col. Muammar Gaddafi was captured and shot dead while trying to hide from rebels.
Libya’s Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has called for “rationality and wisdom” after being freed from the custody of militiamen.
Ali Zeidan was abducted from a Tripoli hotel and held for several hours by armed men whose identity has yet to be confirmed.
In a cabinet meeting, PM Ali Zeidan thanked “real revolutionaries” who took part in a security operation to free him.
The motive of the abduction is unclear but some militias had been angered by a US commando raid to capture senior al-Qaeda suspect Anas al-Liby.
Many militia groups saw the raid in Tripoli on Saturday as a breach of Libyan sovereignty and there is growing pressure on the government to explain if it was involved.
One group, the Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (LROR), said it had captured Ali Zeidan, claiming it was acting on orders from the prosecutor general. But the justice ministry denied this.
The LROR said its actions had not been related to Anas al-Liby’s detention.
The official Lana news agency also named another formal rebel group, the Brigade for the Fight against Crime, as being involved.
Ali Zeidan has called for “rationality and wisdom” after being freed from the custody of militiamen
Two years after the overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Libya still has no constitution and divisions between secular and Islamist forces have paralyzed parliament.
The government has been struggling to contain the numerous militias who control many parts of the country.
Ali Zeidan’s cabinet meeting following his release was shown live on Libya’s al-Ahrar television.
He thanked those who had helped free him but gave no details about them or the abductors.
He said: “I salute the revolutionaries who had an important role. The real revolutionaries, those who rose above greedy demands, I salute them for what they did in this affair.”
Ali Zeidan urged them to “assimilate into the state, and play an active role in it through its civilian and military institutions”.
He added: “Only with an army and the police can a state exist.”
The prime minister said of his capture: “These are accidental things from the revolution’s overflow and they will disappear.”
Ali Zeidan also said Libya would “regain its health” and be “an active, positive nation”.
He assured foreigners the incident had happened “within the context of Libyan political wrangles”.
Ali Zeidan ended by calling for “caution and rationality in handling this matter”.
He had been taken in a pre-dawn raid on the Corinthia Hotel by more than 100 armed men.
Photographs circulating online showed Ali Zeidan being surrounded and led away. There were no reports of violence during his capture.
The prime minister was reportedly held at the interior ministry anti-crime department in Tripoli, where an official said he was treated well.
In a news conference shortly before the release was announced, the government condemned the “criminal act” of his detention and said it would not give in to “blackmail”.
The LROR is one of a number of militias operating in Libya which are nominally attached to government ministries but often act independently and, correspondents say, often have the upper hand over police and army forces.
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Libya’s PM Ali Zeidan has returned to his office after being held for several hours by militiamen loosely allied to the government.
The Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room said it had captured Ali Zeidan in Tripoli, claiming it was acting on orders from the prosecutor general.
The justice ministry denied this.
The militia was one of several groups angered by a US commando raid on Libyan soil on Saturday in which senior al-Qaeda suspect Anas al-Liby was seized.
Many saw the raid as a breach of Libyan sovereignty. There is growing pressure on the government to explain if it was involved but in a statement, the Revolutionaries Operations Room (LROR) said its actions had not been related to Anas al-Liby’s detention.
The official Lana news agency also named another formal rebel group, the Brigade for the Fight against Crime, as being involved.
Libya’s PM Ali Zeidan has returned to his office after being held for several hours by militiamen loosely allied to the government
State TV broadcast live as Ali Zeidan arrived at his office in Tripoli. There was a high security presence as his car pulled up outside. The prime minister made no immediate comment but was expected to give a news briefing shortly.
Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdelaziz said earlier he had no details on the circumstances of the release.
It was unclear whether the militia had released the prime minister voluntarily or whether other security forces had intervened.
Ali Zeidan had been taken in a pre-dawn raid on the Corinthia Hotel by more than 100 armed men.
The LROR said it was acting on the orders of the prosecutor general and in accordance with a section of Libya’s criminal code relating to “crimes and misdemeanors harmful to state security”.
But Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani said the prosecutor general had issued no arrest warrant, according to state-run National Libyan TV.
Photographs circulating online and shown on TV showed Ali Zeidan surrounded by what it said were armed men as he was led away. There were no reports of violence during his capture.
The prime minister was reportedly being held at the interior ministry anti-crime department in Tripoli, where an official said he was being treated well.
In a news conference shortly before the release was announced, the government condemned the “criminal act” of his detention and said it would not give in to “blackmail”.
The LROR is one of a number of militias operating in Libya which are nominally attached to government ministries but often act independently and, correspondents say, often have the upper hand over police and army forces.
The government has been struggling to contain the militias, which were heavily involved in the revolt which overthrew Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and, two years on, still control many parts of the country.
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Libya’s Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been abducted by gunmen in Tripoli.
Ali Zeidan was taken from his hotel at dawn “by gunmen to an unknown place for unknown reasons”, said a statement on the government’s website.
The details are unclear – sources say Ali Zeidan was arrested by an anti-crime militia allied to the government, but others that he had been kidnapped.
There is speculation the event is linked to the capture of a senior al-Qaeda suspect in Libya by US forces.
The government has come under pressure to explain how US commandos were able to seize Anas al-Liby last Saturday.
He is wanted in the US over the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Libya’s Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been abducted by gunmen in Tripoli
On Monday, Libya demanded an explanation from the US ambassador over the incident.
The details of Ali Zeidan’s capture remain unclear, but that he was taken by armed men from a hotel he resides in the early hours of the morning.
The government website said he had been taken “to an unknown place for unknown reasons by a group thought to be from the Tripoli Revolutionaries Control Room and the Committee for Fighting Crime”.
There are a number of militia groups operating in Libya which are nominally attached to government ministries but often act independently.
The ministry of justice confirmed that no arrest warrant had been issued for Ali Zeidan.
The government statement did not name the hotel, but a woman at the Corinthia Hotel – where the prime minister lives – confirmed the incident happened there when armed men entered the building.
She said no-one had been killed.
Libya’s cabinet has been summoned for an immediate meeting under the leadership of the deputy prime minister.
Al-Arabiya TV station broadcast images which showed Ali Zeidan looking disheveled and being escorted by what the station said were armed men.
Two years after the revolt which overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s government has been struggling to contain rival tribal militias and Islamist militants who control parts of the country.
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