Libya's PM demands explanation for US raid in Tripoli

   
Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan on Sunday asked U.S. authorities to explain a military raid in Tripoli to capture a Libyan man wanted for bombing U.S. embassies in Africa 15 years ago, his office said.                    

"The Libyan government is following the news of the kidnapping of a Libyan citizen who is wanted by U.S. authorities," Zeidan's office said in a statement. "The Libyan government has contacted to U.S. authorities to ask them to provide an explanation."                 

Earlier, US forces have captured an al-Qaeda leader in Libya, linked to the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in east Africa and wanted by the US for more than a decade.              

Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, known by his alias Anas al-Libi, is believed to have returned to Libya during the 2011 civil war that led to the ouster and killing of Moammar Gadhafi.            

A Pentagon spokesman said al-Libi was "currently lawfully detained by the US military in a secure location outside of Libya", but did not disclose further details.           

A senior US military official said the raid was carried out by the US army's Delta Force, which has responsibility for counterterrorism operations in North Africa.               

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.           

Family members said gunmen in a three-car convoy seized al-Libi outside his home in Tripoli.              
His brother said the 49-year-old was parking outside his house after dawn prayers, when three vehicles encircled his vehicle.      

Men smashed his car's window and seized his gun before grabbing him and fleeing.                        
The brother said al-Libi's wife saw the kidnapping from her window and described the abductors as foreign-looking armed "commandos".                      

Al-Libi is on the FBI's most-wanted list with a five (m) million US dollars bounty on his head.               
He was indicted by a federal court for his alleged role in the bombings of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya on 7 August, 1998, in which more than 250 people were killed.            

Libyan officials did not return calls seeking comment on al-Libi's abduction and the US issued no immediate statements.       

His brother said he failed to contact authorities over the matter.                            

The Libya operation came on the same day as a raid by US navy SEALs on a Somali coastal town.            

US officials said the forces were looking for an al-Qaeda suspect in connection with the Nairobi shopping mall attack, but did not get their target.            

One official said the SEALs engaged al-Shabab militants and inflicted some casualties, but that no US service members were harmed.             

The officials who discussed the raid spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be identified.   


REUTERS/AP