Libyan prime minister freed after being abducted and calls for peace

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan made his first public comments on Thursday after being released by gunmen who held him hostage for several hours. He was abducted from his hotel early Thursday morning, and since the incident, citizens in Libya have been on a rampage expressing their anger. However, Zeidan urged them to use “wisdom” and calm down the outbursts.

Zeidan also tried to downplay the whole event, assuring foreigners that it was strictly an internal, political issue.   “I want to reassure the foreigners inside Libya that this issue happened within the context of political Libyan disagreements and the foreigners are not being targeted,” he said.

Zeidan was taken from the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli by gunmen who, according to a witness, were respectful and “caused no trouble.” The militia responsible for the abduction, the Operations Room of Libya’s Revolutionaries, said it was sparked by financial and administrative corruption charges against Zeidan.

The incident highlights the country’s ongoing problem with militia control.  “The main problem affecting both justice and security is that armed militias still maintain the upper hand,” said the Human Rights Watch. “They have various agendas — financial, territorial, political, religious — and operate with impunity two years after the Gadhafi regime ended. Successive interim governments have failed to assert control over these militias, preferring to contract them as parallel forces to the army and police.”