The Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has released hours after being seized by militiamen, the Government says. A former rebel group, loosely allied to the government, the Revolutionaries Operations Room, had detained Mr. Zeidan saying they were acting on the orders of the Prosecutor General.

The Justice Ministry has denied this. The militia was one of several groups angered by a US commando raid on Libyan soil on Saturday which seized senior Al-Qaeda suspect Anas al-Liby. Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdelaziz told a news agency that Mr. Zeidan had been freed but added they had no details so far on the circumstances of his release.

A Government spokesman quoted by official Libyan news agency Lana earlier said the Prime Minister was free and on his way to the office. The Prime Minister had been captured in a raid on the Corinthia Hotel by more than 100 armed men.