TRIPOLI (AFP) – Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi said Monday his followers were ready to die for him as Western nations mulled military options to prevent massacres and protect thousands fleeing violence in his country.
World powers ramped up the pressure on his regime, as the United States urged the international community at a meeting in Geneva to work together on further steps to end a brutal crackdown that has cost more than 1,000 lives.
Faced with the threat of massacres or a wave of refugees on their Mediterranean flank, senior Western officials openly weighed military options.
"We're studying all options to ensure that Colonel Kadhafi understands that he has to go. I know that people have mentioned military solutions, and these solutions are being examined by the French government," France's Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in an interview with RTL radio.
His British counterpart David Cameron said London and its allies were working on a plan for a military no-fly zone over Libya.
Cameron told parliament the talks were motivated by the threat of "further appalling steps" being taken by Kadhafi to crack down on the most serious challenge to his rule in four decades.
"We must not tolerate this regime using military force against its own people," Cameron said.
There were reports that Libyan air force planes attacked ammunition depots in two separate locations south of opposition-held second city Benghazi on Monday.
Fighter jets bombed an ammunition stores in the eastern town of Adjabiya, around 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of the city, a witness told AFP by telephone. Two planes also attacked a munitions dump at Rajma, just south of the city, a military reservist said.
The defence ministry denied the reports in a statement read out on Libyan state television.
"All my people love me. They would die to protect me," Kadhafi told British and US media in an interview in the capital Tripoli, the last major city he controls following a popular uprising that began two weeks ago.
The BBC said the veteran Libyan leader appeared relaxed for the interview conducted in a restaurant overlooking Tripoli harbour with the broadcaster, along with CBS news and The Times of London.
Kadhafi said he felt betrayed by the United States, which has led calls for him to leave.
"I'm surprised that we have an alliance with the West to fight Al-Qaeda, and now that we are fighting terrorists they have abandoned us," he said. "Perhaps they want to occupy Libya."
The White House said earlier Monday that exile was "one option" that would satisfy its demands for Kadhafi to go.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that "it is time for Kadhafi to go -- now, without further violence or delay."
"We all need to work together on further steps to hold the Kadhafi government accountable, provide humanitarian assistance to those in need and support the Libyan people as they pursue a transition to democracy."
"We will continue to explore all possible options for action -- as we have said, nothing is off the table so long as the Libyan government continues to threaten and kill Libyan citizens," she added.
Meanwhile, the US military said it was moving naval and air forces into position around Libya.
In Brussels, the European Union agreed Monday to implement an assets freeze and travel ban on Kadhafi and 25 members of his family and inner circle, and ban any supply of arms, ammunition and related material in addition to the UN measures.
The US government has so far blocked around $30 billion in Libyan assets after imposing sanctions late last week, the largest amount ever frozen, US sanctions czar David Cohen said Monday.
Amid signs that they were reorganising economic and business life in the east of the country, Libya's opposition forces said Monday they are resuming oil exports, with the expected departure of a tanker for China.
It will be the first cargo of crude to sail from Libya since February 19, when the full extent of a crackdown by security forces on opposition protesters was beginning to be known to the outside world.
The state Arabian Gulf Oil company has been taken over by the opposition since its chairman Abdulwanis Saad resigned, according to the Wall Street Journal.
EU energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger said Monday that Kadhafi's regime no longer controlled most of Libya's oil and gas installations.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said that "the threat of violent reprisals against civilians still looms" in Libya.
Fearing a bloodbath after widespread reports of atrocities, more than 100,000 people have fled into neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia over the past week, the UN said Monday.
More than 61,000 have crossed into Egypt, 40,000 into Tunisia and another 1,000 into Niger on Libya's southern border, Valerie Amos, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told reporters at the UN headquarters.
"I am very concerned about the alarming reports of continued violence," Amos said, while adding that information on the number of dead in Libya was difficult to obtain. "Estimates range from hundreds to thousands."
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said there are more than 1,000 dead.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Monday he was "assessing allegations of widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population" to judge whether Libyan authorities can be tried for crimes against humanity.
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