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Abductors of Libyan PM should face justice: armed group

13 October 2013 02:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Operations Room of Libya's Revolutionaries (ORLR) announced on Saturday that those responsible for the abduction of Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan must be brought to justice and bear their responsibility in front of judicial authorities, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

An armed group, affiliated with the ORLR, seized Zeidan from Corinthia Hotel in downtown Tripoli on Thursday at dawn and took him to an unknown location. For three hours, the Libyan authorities lost track of the prime minister, until security forces of the Counter Crime Agency in Tripoli stated that Zeidan was held at their office, south of the capital.

The Counter Crime Agency said that they captured Zeidan according to an arrest warrant issued by President of Libya's General National Congress (GNC) Nuri Sahmain, who immediately denied having issued any such warrant.

The armed group working under ORLR said that Zeidan was wanted for questioning over bribery allegations.

In his speech to the nation after being released, Zeidan listed names of the perpetrators, including ORLR and GNC members, noting that certain political forces were planning to destabilize the country.

In a statement, ORLR said that "ORLR did not claim the responsibility," underling that the armed group working under GNC should protect all Libyans as it is provided by law.

ORLR was set up earlier this year as a special body of former rebels who toppled Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011. They are assigned to security forces in all Libyan cities, with the exception of the western towns of Zintan and Alrajaban.

Libyan authorities have been struggling to re-establish security in the oil-rich country. However, more than two years after Gaddafi's death, armed groups that toppled him are still powerful and control large swathes of the North African country.