Frankrijk maant Khaddafi op te stappen, EU praat over sancties tegen Libië (en)
EUOBSERVER i / BRUSSELS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy i on Friday (25 February) became the first EU leader to explicitly call for the resignation of Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi, as civilians continue to be shot on the streets of Tripoli.
"Our position is clear: Moammar Gaddafi has to go," Mr Sarkozy said during a press conference in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul i. "The repeated and systematic violence against the Libyan people is unacceptable and will be the object of an international probe," he added.
The remarks echoed similar comments made a few hours earlier by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron i, who warned the dictator that "no one is beyond reach of international law."
In an emergency meeting of the UN security council in New York on Friday, the UK and France also pressed for a world-wide arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze against the Libyan hardman and his loyalists.
The EU is working on similar measures of its own. Diplomats said the legal details and the names to go on the list are to be finalised over the weekend and are likely to be adopted by next Wednesday. EUobserver understands that Germany also backs the initiative.
Earlier this week, foreign ministers failed to agree on sanctions, mainly due to reluctance from Mediterranean member states. Italy was the main anti-sanctions country, with Rome wary of provoking the unpredictable Libyan leader at a time when thousands of EU citizens were still in his domain.
The violence has since escalated to an extreme degree.
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Friday, the UN high commissioner for refugees, Antonio Guterres, said there is "carnage" and "terrible bloodshed on the streets of Tripoli."
People came out in mass protests on the streets of Tripoli after Friday prayers and Gaddafi forces opened fire with live ammunition.
In the eastern cities of Benghazi and Tobruk, which are no longer under Mr Gaddafi's control, tens of thousands of demonstrators carried banners in support of protesters in the capital city.
"We are working on sanctions, looking at what is most effective and adopted reasonably quickly in collaboration with our international partners," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton i said on Friday at a press conference in Godolo, Hungary, after chairing an informal meeting of EU defence ministers.
The ministers did not discuss military intervention, speaking instead about how warships and airlift could be used to evacuate people.
Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen i convened an urgent meeting of member state ambassadors later on Friday after attending the Godolo event.
"It is absolutely outrageous that the Libyan regime apparently is using armed forces against its own people. Right now, our focus is on evacuation and possibly humanitarian assistance," he said. He added that it is important for the EU and Nato to co-ordinate activity.
Nato sources told this website that a no-fly zone is unlikely to be imposed because it would complicate the security situation and the evacuation efforts. US defence secretary Robert Gates had floated the idea earlier this week.