Arab League Bars Libya from Meetings as Security Council Holds Crisis Talks

The Arab League on Tuesday barred Libya from its meetings until Tripoli responds to the demands of protesters, threatening to suspend its membership after clashes that have killed hundreds.

The League decided to "stop the government of Libya from participating in meetings of the Arab League and all bodies affiliated to it, until the Libyan authorities respond to demands, guaranteeing the security and stability of its people," it said in a statement.

A meeting in March would also decide whether Libya was "fulfilling its commitment to the Arab League charter regarding membership," it said, after a crisis meeting of permanent representatives in Cairo.

The 22-member body said "Arab people's ambitions for freedom, democratic reforms, development and justice are legitimate and must be respected."

The meeting was called as protests spread in the regions of the Middle East and north Africa demanding democratic change, after two uprisings toppled the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia.

Protests are still raging in Libya, where hundreds have been killed and scores wounded since February 15.

Earlier Tuesday the U.N. Security Council held emergency consultations on the Libyan crisis with Western nations pressing for "swift and clear" action.

Libyan diplomats who have broken with strongman leader Moammar Gadhafi and demanded the meeting have called for a U.N. no-fly zone over the country and humanitarian action.

But the talks led only to a decision by the 15-nation council to hold a formal meeting on the crisis later in the day. Diplomats said a statement could be released then.

"The scale of violence by the Libyan security forces against peaceful demonstrators is really shocking," Germany's U.N. Ambassador Peter Wittig said.

"It has regional and international implications. That is why we think it is a case for the Security Council and the council should act with a swift and clear message," Wittig told reporters going into the meeting.

Ibrahim Dabbashi, the Libyan deputy ambassador who has called for Gadhafi to stand down and demanded Tuesday's meeting, said the council must take action "to protect the Libyan people."

He sent a letter demanding that the Security Council order a no-fly zone over Libya and for a humanitarian corridor to get supplies to civilians. But diplomats said no action has yet been discussed.

Libya's main ambassador, Mohammed Shalgham, turned up at the Security Council late in the meeting creating some doubts about who was really representing the country.

Shalgham, who described himself as a childhood friend of Gadhafi, said he did not support all the actions of his deputy but he said he had told government leaders that "violence must stop."

It was not immediately clear whether Dabbashi or Shalgham would represent Libya at the formal meeting.

It is the first time the council has discussed the turmoil sweeping the Middle East and North Africa.

"This is clearly a different case from what we have seen in Egypt and Tunisia because of the scale of the violence and the use of mercenaries," said one diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Even though China and Russia traditionally oppose interference in the internal affairs of a country, "there was a general recognition that it is now a very serious situation and the violence has reached a shocking level," said another diplomat who attended the meeting.

Diplomats from several Western nations said they would press at least for a U.N. statement that condemns the use of violence against Libyan civilians and calls for the protection of foreign nationals there.

Some human rights groups have said up to 400 people have been killed in the Libyan violence in which warplanes have carried out air strikes on demonstrators.

Rights groups have joined calls for the U.N. Security Council to take a tougher line on the unrest in North Africa.

"After peaceful demonstrators have been killed in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, and now, particularly viciously, in Libya, Security Council members cannot pretend anymore that developments in the Middle East and North Africa are not a threat to international peace and security," said Philippe Bolopion, a U.N. specialist for Human Rights Watch.

The International Crisis Group called for sanctions against Gadhafi and his family and for a no-fly zone over Libya.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed outrage at reports of air attacks. He spoke with Gadhafi on Monday and demanded an immediate halt to the violence.

Ban discussed the protests in the Middle East on Tuesday with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, said his spokesman Martin Nesirky.

"The secretary general again emphasized his call for leaders in the region to exercise restraint and to respond to the legitimate grievances of the people," said the spokesman.