By Aaron Gray-Block
THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The international war crimes tribunal said on Thursday it will investigate Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his sons and members of their inner circle for crimes committed by their security forces.
Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo of the Hague-based International Criminal Court said no one had the authority to massacre civilians after a bloody crackdown on demonstrators against Gaddafi's rule in which possibly thousands have died.
He said the court had identified several people at the top of the command chain who could be investigated.
"They are Muammar Gaddafi, his inner circle including some of his sons, who had this de facto authority. There are also some people with formal authority who should pay attention to crimes committed by their people."
The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Gaddafi and his family on Saturday, and referred Libya's crackdown on demonstrators to the court.
Gaddafi has vowed to stay in Libya and fight to the death since protests against his 41-year rule began in mid February, inspired by the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that ousted longstanding authoritarian rulers.
The prosecutor identified several attacks that would be investigated, including violence in the eastern city of Benghazi on February 15 and some attacks in the capital Tripoli on February 20.
"No one has the authority to attack and massacre civilians. As soon as someone commits crimes this is our business to investigate it and try and stop it," Moreno-Ocampo said, adding that the court could issue arrest warrants over the atrocities in a few months' time.
COMMAND CHAIN
Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim called the ICC investigation "close to a joke" since no fact-finding mission had been sent to his country and said it was based purely on media reports.
"We have armed gangs having tanks, aircraft and machine guns and attacking police stations, army camps, ports and airports and occupying Libyan cities. This is far away from a peaceful movement," he told BBC radio.
Other people in Gaddafi's circle who will come under the court's scrutiny include the commander of the 32nd brigade, foreign mercenaries, a spokesman of the regime, and the Libyan National Security Adviser, Moreno-Ocampo said.
He did not identify them by name, but said the inner circle included some of Gaddafi's sons.
Outside that circle, he pointed to the head of Gaddafi's personal security, the director general of the Libyan External Security Organisation, plus other organisations including the head of the Regime's Security Forces as potential suspects.
Earlier on Thursday, Gaddafi's forces struck at rebel control of oil export hubs in Libya's east for a second day as Arab states weighed a plan to end the turmoil.
Rebels are also calling for a no-fly zone, echoing a demand by Libya's deputy U.N. envoy, who now opposes Gaddafi.
The ICC, however, has no police force and has struggled in the past to have suspects arrested.
Sudan's president Omar Hassan al-Bashir is still at large after being charged with genocide in Darfur and Joseph Kony, the leader of Uganda's murderous Lord's Resistance Army has also eluded international efforts to capture him.
Bill Pace, head of a coalition of NGOs that support the work of the court, said the U.N. Security Council and its member states should now stand by the referral and ensure that Libya and other states cooperate fully with the court.
"This includes facilitating the gathering of evidence as well as ensuring the arrest of suspects," Pace said.
"The international community is rightly concerned about the gravity of the situation in Libya. The involvement of the ICC indicates that crimes of grave concern will not be tolerated."
(Reporting by Aaron Gray-Block; additional reporting by Stefano Ambrogi; Editing by Sara Webb and Elizabeth Fullerton)
