The United States and European allies intensified efforts to isolate Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on Monday, redoubling demands for him to step down, questioning his mental state and warning that those who stay loyal to him risk losing their wealth and being prosecuted for human rights abuses.
Europe, which buys most of Libya's oil exports, outlined fresh sanctions to force the dictator to stop attacks on civilians and step down after 42 years of iron-fisted rule. The European Union issued travel bans and an asset freeze against senior Libyan officials, and ordered an arms embargo on the country.
Germany proposed a 60-day economic embargo to prevent Gadhafi from using oil and other revenues to repress his people.
The EU has much more leverage over Libya than the United States since Europe buys 85 percent of Libyan oil exports and Gadhafi and his family are thought to have significant assets in Britain, Switzerland and Italy. Switzerland and Britain already have frozen Libyan assets.
The travel and financial sanctions are aimed at peeling away loyalists from Gadhafi in the hope of further isolating him.
"These sanctions and accountability mechanisms should make all members of the Libyan regime think about the choice they have before them: violate human rights and be held accountable or stop the violence and respect the Libyan people's call for change," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told reporters following crisis meetings on Libya at the White House. "There's no escaping that critical choice."
As the Pentagon moved naval and air forces closer to Libya amid active international discussions about imposing a no-fly zone over the country, the U.S. Treasury Department announced it had frozen at least $30 billion in Libyan assets since President Barack Obama imposed financial and travel sanctions on Gadhafi, his family, senior Libyan officials and the government last week. That figure is the largest amount of money ever frozen by a U.S. sanctions order, which also set out travel bans for the Libyan leadership.
Administration officials said that as long as the government continues its violent crackdown against opponents who now control most of eastern Libya, all options, including military ones, remain on the table.
Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday he's ordered his top brass to work with Britain's allies on a plan to establish a military no-fly zone over Libya.
Cameron did not say whether that meant that the U.K. and its allies were preparing to enforce such a flight ban or simply making plans in case the situation there escalated.
At the Pentagon, officials said they were moving forces in the region in case they were needed but did not say what they might be used for.
"We have planners working various contingency plans and ... as part of that we are repositioning forces in the region to be able to provide options and flexibility," said Marine Col. Dave Lapan, a Defense Department spokesman.
The U.S. has a regular military presence in the Mediterranean Sea, two aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf area and a wide range of surveillance equipment available for use in the region. Without specific information about what assets were being moved and where, it was impossible to tell whether the U.S. moves were intended as a military threat or were simply a symbolic show of force.