Kidnappers release former Libyan PM: report

TRIPOLI, Aug. 23 — Former Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zaidan has
been released after being kidnapped last week, local TV channel reported on
Tuesday.

Zaidan was released on Tuesday by the armed group that kidnapped him, a
Libyan parliament member was quoted as saying. Zaidan was kidnapped in
Tripoli, capital of Libya, on Aug. 13 by an unknown group from his hotel
shortly after he returned from abroad. The group that kidnapped him and the
place where he was detained are still unknown. Zaidan was sworn in as the
prime minister of Libya’s transitional government in November 2012. In
March 2014, Zaidan was dismissed when Libya’s General National Congress
(GNC) passed a non-confidence motion against him after he had failed to
resolve an oil export crisis. The GNC, the highest political body in
Libya, also placed him under investigation for corruption. Zaidan was once
kidnapped and detained for a few hours in Tripoli when he was in office by
an armed group. – XINHUA