’We call for an end to the continuing brutal and bloody repression and to the threatening statements of the Libyan leadership’

World leaders on Friday were pressing for action against Muammar Gaddafi as his brutal crackdown on a nationwide revolt escalated, with reports of thousands killed and wounded.
  
France and Britain have proposed the UN Security Council pass a resolution calling for sanctions and a total arms embargo against Libya ahead of its meeting later to discuss the crisis, France's top diplomat said.
  
Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie also said they would propose bringing members of the Libyan regime before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

An EU diplomat later said European nations were preparing to participate in enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya to protect anti-Gaddafi protesters from strafing should the United Nations approve such a measure.
  
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay meanwhile told the body's Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva that the crackdown was "escalating alarmingly" and that some sources said thousands of people had been killed or wounded.
  
"In brazen and continuing breach of international law, the crackdown in Libya of peaceful demonstrations is escalating alarmingly with reported mass killings, arbitrary arrests, detention and torture of protesters," she said.
  
Diplomats at the UN headquarters in New York said they are studying a possible no-fly zone over Libya, as well as a travel ban and assets freeze against the Gaddafi family. "All options are on the table. We are not ruling anything out," a Western diplomat said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
  
The 15-nation Security Council is determined to show international anger after Gaddafi rejected calls for a halt to the violence, diplomats said. But they noted that sanctions are unlikely to be agreed upon by Friday's meeting, when UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will address envoys.
  
US President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday renewed their call for an end to the "continuing brutal and bloody repression and to the threatening statements of the Libyan leadership," the French presidency said.
  
After speaking over the phone, the two presidents "reiterated their demand for an immediate halt to the use of force against the civilian population."
  
In a separate conversation, Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron promised to "coordinate on possible multilateral measures on Libya," Cameron's office said. Cameron called for sanctions on the Libyan regime through the United Nations and an investigation into its potential crimes against humanity.
  
The joint action between the two leaders would include moves at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Switzerland. Western nations are seeking to have Libya kicked out of the international body.

Though diplomats stressed there was unity on the council about the need for new measures on Libya, some have said sanctions are likely to be left first to the European Union and United States.
  
China has taken a tougher line on Libya as it has had to move thousands of nationals out of the strife-torn nation. Russia has said the use of force against civilians in Libya is "unacceptable," but Prime Minister Vladimir Putin also warned the West against interfering in other countries' internal affairs.