ROME - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta held a brief summit with government officials at Palazzo Chigi on Thursday to assess the situation in Libya. 

 

Early Thursday morning the Prime Minister of Libya, Ali Zeidan, was captured by an armed group of militants, taken to an undisclosed location, and released several hours later. The event prompted attention from the Italian government, with Prime Minister Letta holding a summit for the Ministers of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, and Defence to discuss was to address the situation. 

 

Two different rebel groups have claimed responsibility for the "arrest" of the Prime Minister, attributing the kidnapping to the government's involvement in the US capture of alleged al Qaeda leader Abu Anas al-Libi. On Saturday, the US military captured al-Libi and brought him aboard a US Navy warship for questioning. US Secretary of State John Kerry has stated that the arrest of al-Libi was made with the Libyan government "aware of the operation." A statement that seems to have been the trigger for Prime Minister Zeidan's kidnapping.

 

A response to the situation also came from the NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who stated that he was watching the developments of the situation "with great concern" and that NATO is ready to take action if needed. On Monday, the United States moved 200 Marines from Spain to the Sigonella naval base in Sicily to bolster the response to any potential crisis in Libya.