Libya crisis: EU agrees sanctions against Gaddafi
International action to pressure Gaddafi into surrendering gathers momentum with Russia and China joining the west in backing calls to prosecute him for war crimes
The European Union has agreed sanctions against the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, including an arms embargo, asset freeze and visa ban.
EU ambassadors agreed the sanctions at a meeting to assess the deteriorating situation in the north African nation. An announcement confirming the decision is expected later on Monday.
William Hague, the British foreign secretary, warned there would be a "day of reckoning" for anyone involved in supporting Gaddafi's human rights abuses against protesters in Libya.
Hague, who is attending a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva to discuss the crisis, called on other countries to join Britain in backing a resolution being debated by the UN general assembly in New York on Tuesday which would make Libya the first nation ever to be suspended from membership of the council.
David Cameron will make a statement to MPs later on Monday.
Gaddafi is running out of options and friends as international action to pressure him into surrendering gathers momentum, with Russia and China joining the west in backing calls to prosecute him for war crimes.
Hague told the Geneva meeting that "the unanimous response to the crisis in Libya, here in the human rights council and at the UN security council, is nothing short of remarkable".
The momentum must be maintained to ensure that there can be "no impunity" for crimes committed and to help bring about an immediate end to the violence, said Hague.
"The international community came together in a way it has not done before, setting aside differences in the face of a challenge to the very notion of what we instinctively regard as the basic rights of humankind the right to be free from terror and oppression, the right to life, and the right to gather and express views without the dread of violent retribu! tion.
"Today we have signalled that crimes will not be condoned, will not go unpunished and will not be forgotten. This is a warning to anyone contemplating the abuse of human rights in Libya or any other country stay your hand. There will be a day of reckoning and the reach of international justice can be long."
Hague said ahead of his statement that he hoped European Union sanctions against Libya would be "fully implemented" by the end of this week.
In other developments:
The international criminal court prosecutor said he hoped to complete a preliminary examination of the violence in Libya in a few days before opening a full investigation.
Fighting between Gaddafi loyalists and rebels has been reported in Misrata, 125 miles east of Tripoli. Opponents of the Gaddafi regime shot down a military aircraft and have retained control of the town, according to the reports.
Shots have been fired at an anti-government demonstration in the Tarjoura district of eastern Tripoli. Reuters reported that security forces fired into the air at a protest by by about 400 people shouting anti-Gaddafi slogans.
Kenyans and Nigerians fleeing unrest in Libya said on Monday they faced attacks and hostility from Libyan citizens and officials who branded them as mercenaries supporting Gaddafi's rule.
Egypt's public prosecutor has issued an order imposing a travel ban on the former president, Hosni Mubarak, and his family while complaints against them are being investigated.
Cameron announced on Sunday that Britain was imposing an asset freeze and a travel ban as part of UN-led sanctions against the Gaddafi regime.
Gaddafi and his family were stripped of diplomatic immunity preventing them from entering the UK and banks and other bodies were told by the Treasury to prevent them using UK-held funds and assets understood to total around 1bn.
His announcement came after the UN security council voted for measures aimed at punishing the regime and gave an unprecedented u! nanimous backing to refer it to the international criminal court.
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