Foreign powers increase pressure on Gaddafi

Foreign governments are increasing the pressure on contested Libyan leader Gaddafi to leave in the hope of ending fighting that has claimed at least 1,000 lives and restoring order to a country that accounts for 2 percent of the world''s oil production. The UN Security Council on Saturday slapped sanctions on Gaddafi and other Libyan officials and imposed an arms embargo and froze Libyan assets. European Union governments approved their sanctions against Gaddafi in Brussels on Monday, implementing the UN resolution sooner than expected. In The Hague, the International Criminal Court prosecutor said he would finish a preliminary examination of the violence within days, after which he could open a full inquiry -- a step mandated by the Council that could have taken months. France proposed an emergency summit of EU leaders for Thursday, EU diplomats said. In an address to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Gaddafi was using "mercenaries and thugs" to suppress his own people and said the Libyan leader must step down immediately. "Gaddafi and those around him must be held accountable for these acts, which violate international legal obligations and common decency," Clinton said, adding that nothing was off the table as the international community considers its next steps. A U.S. official in Geneva said a central aim of sanctions was to "send a message not only to Gaddafi ... but to the people around Gaddafi, who are the ones we''re really seeking toinfluence". German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said after meeting Clinton that he was proposing a 60-day freeze on money transfers to Libya, and believed other countries were open to the idea. "We must do everything to ensure that no money is going into the hands of the Libyan dictator''s family, and that they have no opportunity to hire new foreign soldiers to repress their people," he said. But there was less support among foreign ministers in Geneva for an Australian proposal to stop Gaddafi''s forces attacking rebels from the air. Asked if he had discussed a no-fly zone in his meeting with Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov retorted: “Absolutely not. It was not mentioned by anyone."