Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was seized by gunmen today and held for several hours before being freed, in the latest example of the lawlessness prevailing since Moamer Kadhafi's overthrow.
The premier appeared in good health when he arrived at government headquarters after his ordeal at the hands of former rebel militiamen, waving to waiting well-wishers as he climbed out of an armoured car.
"I hope this problem will be resolved with reason and wisdom" and without any "escalation," Zeidan said later in comments broadcast by state television as he left a cabinet meeting.
The pre-dawn seizure of Zeidan came five days after US commandos embarrassed and angered the government by capturing senior Al-Qaeda suspect Abu Anas al-Libi off the streets of Tripoli and whisking him away to a warship in the Mediterranean.
Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdelaziz said Zeidan had been freed a number of hours after he was seized before dawn at his Tripoli hotel.
"He has been freed but we have no details so far on the circumstances of his release," Abdelaziz told AFP.
Witnesses said Zeidan was held at a police station south of the capital, and that his captors released him after armed residents surrounded the building and demanded he be let go.
Government spokesman Mohamed Kaabar told state news agency LANA the premier had been "freed, not released," without providing further details.
An employee at the hotel -- where Zeidan had taken up residence for security reasons -- told AFP a "large number of armed men" had entered the building but that the staff did not know what was happening.
A government statement said Zeidan had been taken "to an unknown destination for unknown reasons by a group" of men believed to be former rebels.
Moments before news broke that Zeidan had been freed, Deputy Prime Minister Al-Seddik Abdelkarim vowed that the government would not give into the demands of the perpetrators of a "criminal act."
"The government will not give in to blackmail by anyone," he said.
After being freed, Zeidan met with his ministers and members of the General National Congress (GNC) -- Libya's highest political authority.
Ministers had already met in his absence earlier in the day for an emergency session.
