UNKNOWN LOCATION

It was unclear where Zeidan was being held, but the Libyan government in a statement confirmed the premier was taken at dawn to "an unknown place for unknown reasons."

US special forces on Saturday seized Nazih al-Ragye, known by his alias Abu Anas al-Liby - a Libyan suspected in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Liby is being held on a Navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea.

The US State Department was looking into the reports of Zeidan's kidnapping and was "in close touch with senior US and Libyan officials on the ground," spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in Brunei, where Kerry is on an official visit.

The Operations Room of Libya's Revolutionaries had been affiliated with the Interior Ministry which assigned them to provide security in the capital as part of a programme to reintegrate former fighters.

Guards at the Hotel said no shots fired or clashes during the incident.

Al-Arabiya television channel quoted Libya's justice minister as saying that Zeidan had been "kidnapped" and showed what it said were video stills of Zeidan frowning and wearing a grey shirt undone at the collar surrounded by several men in civilian clothes pressing closely around him.

Zeidan said on Tuesday Libyans accused of crimes should be tried at home, but that the raid to capture Liby would not harm US ties - trying preserve ties with a major ally without provoking a backlash from Islamist militants.

But the raid angered militant groups, including one blamed for the assault on the US consulate in Benghazi in 2012, who called for revenge attacks on strategic targets including gas export pipelines, planes and ships, as well as for the kidnappings of Americans in the capital.