France, Britain warn Libya no-fly zone is possible

The warning came after talks in Paris between French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and his British counterpart, William Hague.

Britain and France want Gaddafi to stand down and were working on "bold and ambitious" proposals to put to a European Union leaders' meeting on Libya next week to step up pressure, the two ministers told reporters.

London and Paris called on Monday for a meeting of EU leaders to discuss Libya, a summit slated for March 11.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said his country is considering plans for a military no-fly zone.

France's Juppe said such an option could and should be considered but only if it was endorsed by U.N. Security Council decision.

Any foreign military involvement in Arab countries is a sensitive topic for Western nations uncomfortably aware that Iraq suffered years of bloodletting and al Qaeda violence after a 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.

"France, for its part, does not think that in the current circumstances military intervention, NATO forces, would be welcomed in the south of the Mediterranean and could be counterproductive," Juppe said.

"That said, given the threats from Colonel Gaddafi, we have to be in a position to react and that is why we agreed to plans for a no-fly zone over Libya," he added.

U.S. officials say they are ruling nothing out, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this week that a no-fly zone was not an immediate priority. Defence Secretary Robert Gates highlighted what a no-fly zone entails when he said on Wednesday such a move "begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses."

(Reporting by Brian Love, editing by Michael Roddy)