ICC issues arrest warrant for Gaddafi and other officials

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told the UN Security Council yesterday that widespread and systematic attacks by Gaddafi's forces had been carried out and were still ongoing.

He said he would seek arrest warrants against the three Libyans who bear "the greatest criminal responsibility" for crimes against humanity committed in retaliation to pro-democracy uprisings.

Strong evidence of repeated shootings of peaceful protestors, as well as the "systematic" rape, arrest, torture and killing of other civilians had been discovered, Moreno-Ocampo told the council.

"War crimes are apparently committed as a matter of policy," a report by his team of investigators said following a two-month inquiry.

Following the wave of uprisings across the Middle East earlier this year, Gaddafi unleashed a brutal crackdown on demonstrators who held protests against his rule.

The country has since descended into civil war, where thousands of people have already been killed. Nato forces are engaged in air strikes against facilities in Tripoli.

"The victims who were shot at by the security forces were unarmed civilians and there is no evidence of any attack against the security forces," Moreno-Ocampo said in New York.

"There are at least two eyewitnesses for each incident, documents, and, in many cases, corroboration of details by pictures or video."

The ICC prosecutor did not identify the three individuals set to face arrest warrants, but it is widely assumed that Gaddafi, Libyan leader for the past 42 years, will be among them. Abdullah Senussi, Gaddafi's brother-in-law and intelligence chief, may also be included.