2nd LD: Libya's deputy FM kidnapped in Beida

The deputy foreign minister in Libya's internationally recognized government, Hassan Alsaghir, was kidnapped by unknown gunmen on Sunday in the eastern city of Beida, according to Libyan government sources.

An armed group stormed the Marhaba hotel at the early hours on Sunday, "violently" taking Alsaghir to an unknown place by a car in dark color, according to an official who declined to disclose his name from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Some hotel staff said that the gang claimed themselves policemen and beat Alsaghir in his room.

Beida's security forces denied that they have issued any arrest warrant for Alsaghir. The motivation for the abduction has not been immediately known.

Alsaghir was a diplomat before being appointed as a member of the National Transitional Council of Libya, the de facto government of Libya during the 2011 civil war which toppled the former strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

The security conditions in the North Africa country has been plagued by assassinations, kidnappings and armed robberies since the removal of Gaddafi.

Libya's Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, which has been warring with the Libyan army since May, said earlier that it had set up an offshoot in Beida attempting to confront the government forces.

There have been some bomb attacks in recent months in the city, but is otherwise quiet. Endit