STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- The sanctions include an arms embargo, an asset freeze, and a travel ban
- The Security Council will also discuss referring Moammar Gadhafi to the International Criminal Court
- Gadhafi has faced sanctions before, in the aftermath of the Lockerbie bombing
United Nations (CNN) — The United Nations Security Council went behind closed doors Saturday in an urgent session to discuss sanctions against Libya amid Moammar Gadhafi’s escalating crackdown on anti-government protesters.
The draft resolution includes an arms embargo, asset freeze, and travel bans for Gadhafi and his associates. It also refers Gadhafi to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, which could prove to be a sticking point for some of the member nations.
Several ambassadors said on their way to the meeting they expect a vote Saturday on the resolution.
Gerard Araud, France’s ambassador to the United Nations, described the pace of the resolution proceedings as “an earthquake.”
The United Nations estimates that 1,000 people have been killed since the Libyan uprising began last week and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Security Council to come up with immediate actions against Gadhafi’s regime.
“In these circumstances, the loss of time means more loss of lives,” Ban told the 15-member body Friday.
The session Saturday comes the day after Libyan Ambassador Mohamed Shalgam made an emotional appeal to his United Nations counterparts.
“I hope within hours, not days, that they can do something tangible,” he said.
Some, however, were skeptical of the sanctions and said they would not have teeth.
Fouad Ajami of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies told CNN that Gadhafi had survived sanctions once before, in the aftermath of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
“The sanctions never worked,” he said. “Anyone with money can break these sanctions.”
Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court has said it can only investigate alleged crimes in the nation if Libyan authorities accept its jurisdiction or the Security Council refers the situation to the court.
Unless either decision is taken, it cannot investigate because Libya is not a state party to the court, said prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
CNN’s Richard Roth contributed to this report.
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UN Security Council takes up Libya sanctions