REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TRIPOLI --  Libya condemned the United States on Wednesday for snatching a man suspected of masterminding the deadly 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, describing the arrest as a violation of Libyan sovereignty.

President Barack Obama authorised Sunday's operation in which US special forces captured Ahmed Abu Khatallah in Libya for transfer to the United States.

The action is very sensitive for the weak Libyan government which is under pressure from various militias, Islamists and armed tribesmen who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 but defy state authority in the vast desert country.

In the first official reaction from Tripoli, Justice Minister Saleh al-Marghani said Khatallah should be returned to Libya and tried there.