The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) has told the UN Security Council that he will seek three arrest warrants for crimes against humanity in Libya.
Charges against the three members of the Libyan government may include murder and unlawful detention, use of cluster bombs and rape as a weapon, Luis Moreno-Ocampo said on Wednesday.
The UN Security Council referred the Libyan violence to the ICC in February.
Moreno-Ocampo is investigating Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, some of his sons and aides over a "pre-determined plan" to attack protesters.
He did not, however, name the targets of the arrest warrants, which he said he will request in several weeks for crimes against humanity committed in Libya since February 15.
"Crimes against humanity have been and continue to be committed in Libya, attacking unarmed civilians including killings and persecutions in many cities across Libya," the prosecutor said in a statement.
The prosecutor added that he was also investigating the deaths of dozens of sub-Saharan Africans in the rebel capital of Benghazi by an "angry mob" who believed they were mercenaries for Gaddafi.
Khalid Kaim, the Libyan deputy foreign minister, dismissed the ICC allegations saying Moreno-Ocampo's report painted a partial picture.
"Any decision or any conclusion can Mr. Ocampo draw out of his visit to Benghazi and to Egypt will be just one party review or one party position," Kaim said.
"Of course, since we are not party of the ICC, we cannot invite Mr. Ocampo but instead of that we can invite another fact-finding mission from the [UN] Security Council."
Rape as a weapon
Moreno-Ocampo said there were allegations that Africans from other nations had been attacked in rebel territory because they were thought to be mercenaries.
Alleged criminal incidents include security forces opening live fire at unarmed peaceful protesters, using rape as well as "systemic arrests, torture, killings, deportations, enforced disappearances and destruction of mosques" as a weapon, according to the prosecutor's report.
While a precise number is hard to provide, up to 700 people were killed in February alone, the report said. Gaddafi estimates that "only 150 or 200" have been killed.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has said almost 40,000 people fled fighting in western Libya last month.
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