Libyan PM Ali Zeidan kidnapped by rebels Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been abducted by rebels, his spokesman says. A GROUP of former rebels in Libya said it had "arrested" Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, after he was seized by gunmen from a Tripoli hotel in a dawn raid. The Operations Cell of Revolutionaries, which in principle reports to the defence and interior ministries, said on Facebook it had seized Zeidan "on the prosecutor's orders." The premier "was arrested under the Libyan penal code... on the instructions of the public prosecutor," the group said. PM Ali Zeidan spokesman also confirmed his kidnapping. "The head of the transitional government, Ali Zeidan, was taken to an unknown destination for unknown reasons by a group" of men believed to be former rebels, the government said in a brief statement on its website. British foreign secretary William Hague has called for his immediate release. Armed rebels escorted Mr Zeidan from a Tripoli hotel to an undisclosed location, a witness has told CNN. The abduction comes amid anger among Libya's powerful Islamic militant groups over the US special forces raid on Saturday that seized a Libyan al-Qaida suspect, known as Abu Anas al-Libi. Several groups accused the government of colluding in or allowing the raid, though the government denied having any prior knowledge of the operation. Hours before the abduction, Zeidan met with al-Libi's family. The official says gunmen broke into the luxury hotel in downtown Tripoli where Mr Zeidan lives and abducted him and two of his guards. The official spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. The Prime Minister's media office earlier issued a statement denying Mr Zeidan had been abducted. But, according to reports, his spokesman retracted the statement, saying: "We were under pressure to deny the kidnapping of Ali Zeidan." Earlier this week Mr Zeidan called on the West to help stop militancy in Libya. In an interview with the BBC he said his country was being used as a weapons base.