TRIPOLI // Libya’s prime minister was kidnapped for several hours on Thursday from the luxury hotel where he resides by militiamen supported by a rival politician.
Ali Zeidan returned to the government headquarters shortly after he was freed, waving to a waiting crowd of well-wishers.
“Security agencies are doing their job in maintaining the security of Libyans and foreigners alike”, Mr Zeidan said. His arrest was a result of “political manoeuvring in Libya”.
The incident came four days after US forces seized suspected terrorist Abu Anas Al Libi in Libya on suspicion of conspiracy to kill US nationals and to conduct attacks against American interests worldwide. Militia violence has plagued Libya since the capture and death of the former dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011 and has intensified in recent months with groups refusing to heed government calls to disband.
“We hope this matter will be treated with wisdom and rationality, far from tension,” Mr Zeidan said. “There are many things that need dealing with.”
More than 100 militants stormed the Corinthia Hotel in downtown Tripoli at about 3am, ferreting Mr Zeidan away in a convoy after a brief scuffle with hotel security guards and the prime minister’s bodyguards.
The gunmen claimed to have an arrest warrant for Mr Zeidan, said Libya’s justice minister, Salah Marghani, who denied a warrant existed.
The militants arrived at the hotel in 15 armoured cars, said Al Habib Al Ameen, the culture minister. They took the prime minister from his room “and were willing to take more ministers but thank god they didn’t”.
“Mr Zeidan, like all other Libyan citizens, is not safe.”
Many government officials live in the hotel, an imposing tower located near the coast.
Another cabinet official said Mr Zeidan was possibly held in Maftouh Prison, in the suburbs of Tripoli. The prime minister’s son said he was not harmed.
A photo was released of Mr Zeidan squeezed between two militants, looking haggard in a grey collared shirt.
“This is making us look like fools in the eyes of the international community,” one cabinet minister said.
Details of the operation to free Mr Zeidan were unclear, but cabinet ministers had said that they were engaged in political negotiations for his release. Hashem Bisher, the chief of Tripoli’s government security forces, said in a post on Facebook that his forces had freed Mr Zeidan.
The militants were aligned with the Operations Room of Libya’s Revolutionaries, the government said. The group is a closely organised band that was set up this year under the auspices of a senior politician in Libya’s Congress, Mr Marghani said.
The head of the group claimed to have an arrest warrant to investigate Mr Zeidan on financial crimes, said the hotel security and the prime minister’s bodyguards.
Mr Zeidan told his security detail to stand aside to avoid bloodshed.
Three of the bodyguards went with the prime minister when he was taken away by gunmen.
Mr Zeidan has successfully held off numerous attempts to unseat him and his government this year by politicians in Libya’s interim congress. Mr Marghani said that he believed that the detention was related to the continuing political feuds in Libya.
Libya’s government has struggled to assert its authority across the country since the revolution, often at the mercy of militant groups who claim allegiance to the government but act according to their own will. Many of these groups were provided with arms by the West during the revolution, but since Qaddafi was toppled in 2011 the government has worked unsuccessfully to disarm them.
In Libya’s post-Gadhafi political landscape, former revolutionary leaders from far-flung provinces have tried to cement their new political power with the force of their men-at-arms. In Tripoli, leaders have tried to mitigate these regional power battles by keeping the ranks of the city’s new security forces filled with men from the capital.
The Operations Room of Libya’s Revolutionaries is a force whose gunmen are primarily from outside Tripoli. Because of the political rivalries that also exist in Tripoli there has been no consensus about how to disarm them or send them back to their hometowns.
The head of Tripoli’s official security force, Mr Bisher, said that he has been complaining for months about the presence of this large, rival band operating in the capital. But the political rivalries that exist between cabinet members and members of Congress, however, have made it impossible to streamline the rivals into the country’s national security forces.
As the day progressed Thursday, the reasons given for the prime minister’s kidnapping shifted from corruption allegations to the US raid that captured an Al Qaeda suspect over the weekend.
Al Arabiya news channel carried a statement from the Operations Room of Libya’s Revolutionaries’ spokesman saying, the kidnapping came after the statement by the US secretary of state John Kerry “about the capture of Abu Anas Al Libi, after he said the Libyan government was aware of the operation”.
The statement referred to the Qaeda operative who was captured last weekend by US commandos. Al Libi was indicted in 2000 for his role in the bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998.
The abduction Mr Zeidan marked a period of just more than a year when the US ambassador was killed, the French and Russian embassies attacked, military officers assassinated and oil production slumped.
* Dow Jones with additional reporting by Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
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Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
Your Guide to the Home
- Level 1 has a valet service if you choose not to park in the basement level. This level houses all the kitchenware, including covetable brand French Bull, along with a wide array of outdoor furnishings, lamps and lighting solutions, textiles like curtains, towels, cushions and bedding, and plenty of other home accessories.
- Level 2 features curated inspiration zones and solutions for bedrooms, living rooms and dining spaces. This is also where you’d go to customise your sofas and beds, and pick and choose from more than a dozen mattress options.
- Level 3 features The Home’s “man cave” set-up and a display of industrial and rustic furnishings. This level also has a mother’s room, a play area for children with staff to watch over the kids, furniture for nurseries and children’s rooms, and the store’s design studio.
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
THE SPECS
Aston Martin Rapide AMR
Engine: 6.0-litre V12
Transmission: Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic
Power: 595bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh999,563
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Sebastian Stefan, Sebastian Morar and Claudia Pacurar
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2014
Number of employees: 36
Sector: Logistics
Raised: $2.5 million
Investors: DP World, Prime Venture Partners and family offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
RESULT
Bayern Munich 3 Chelsea 2
Bayern: Rafinha (6'), Muller (12', 27')
Chelsea: Alonso (45' 3), Batshuayi (85')
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Selected fixtures
All times UAE
Wednesday
Poland v Portugal 10.45pm
Russia v Sweden 10.45pm
Friday
Belgium v Switzerland 10.45pm
Croatia v England 10.45pm
Saturday
Netherlands v Germany 10.45pm
Rep of Ireland v Denmark 10.45pm
Sunday
Poland v Italy 10.45pm
Monday
Spain v England 10.45pm
Tuesday
France v Germany 10.45pm
Rep of Ireland v Wales 10.45pm
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
