Libyan prime minister released

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been released, several hours after being seized by militiamen from Tripoli's Corinthia hotel where he resides, say government sources.

He was seized Thursday by an anti-crime unit of former rebels, the Brigade for the Fight against Crime, the official LANA news agency quoted a spokesman as saying.

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 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 kidnapping.

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.

Saturday's raid by US commandos in Tripoli has embarrassed and put the Libyan government under pressure from its critics -- in particular some former rebel groups in the 2011 revolt that ousted and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi.