Libya PM Zeidan seemed 'overwhelmed' by leadership role

The Libyan government says the Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been freed, hours after he was seized by gunmen.

A government spokesman told Libyan television Mr Zeidan was in good health.

He was abducted by armed men from the hotel where he lives in the capital Tripoli.

A militia group contracted by the interior ministry said it was holding him on an arrest warrant, but the government denied any such order exists.

The armed group said it had arrested him for what it called financial misdemeanours.

The BBC's Tim Whewell interviewed Mr Zeidan before his detainment and the capture of al-Qaeda suspect Abu Anas Al-Liby by US forces in Tripoli.

He said he found the leader to be 'overwhelmed' by the tasks confronting him.