EU ministers urge Libya to end attacks on protests

BRUSSELS (AP) â€" The European Union on Monday sharply criticized Libyan authorities over their crackdown against pro-democracy protesters, overcoming a split over how tough they should be in denouncing the teetering government of strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

The EU foreign ministers condemned "the ongoing repression against demonstrators in Libya and deplores the violence and death of civilians," said a statement released after the regular monthly meeting of the bloc's 27 foreign ministers.

EU President Herman Van Rompuy said in a separate statement he was "horrified by the growing number of human casualties among demonstrators."

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called for an immediate end to the use of force against protesters, adding that peaceful protests must be allowed.

"I hope the Libyan authorities will listen to that," she said.

Ashton, who is traveling to Egypt late Monday, said the ministers had held preliminary talks on a comprehensive economic and trade package to help countries in Northern Africa affected by the turmoil. The discussions would continue in coming days and weeks, she said.

"This is our neighborhood ... Europe should be judged by its ability to act in its own neighborhood," she said.

During the meeting, a number of foreign ministers, including those of Britain and Germany, blasted Gadhafi's regime and demanded tough measures against it, officials said. But others, including Italy and the Czech Republic, called for a more measured tone saying Libya was on the verge of chaos.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Libya to investigate the violence and hold those responsible to account, to allow international human rights monitors into the country, and to end restrictions on the internet and the harassment of journalists.

"The credibility of the Libyan government in these matters has been undermined so far by their failure to protect their own people and to respond to their legitimate grievances," Hague said.

But Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini expressed concern about a possible civil war and breakup of Libya, saying he feared that an Islamic state could be set up in the area bordering Egypt.

"I'm very concerned about the idea of dividing Libya in two, in Cyrenaica and in Tripoli. That would be really dangerous," he said. Cyrenaica is the country's eastern region, where the largest anti-government protests have taken place.

Libya has seen the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country of the wave of protests sweeping the region that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia. Since the six days of unrest began, more than 200 people have been killed in Libya, according to medical officials, human rights groups and exiled dissidents.

On Sunday, Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi's son went on Libyan television and offered to put forward reforms within days that he described as "historic." Seif al-Islam Gadhafi said the regime was willing to remove some restrictions and begin discussions on a constitution. He also offered to change a number of laws, including those covering the media and the penal code.

But Gadhafi's son also said Libya's armed forces are with his father, and "We will fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet."

The government in Tripoli has threatened to discontinue cooperation with the EU in blocking immigration from the North Africa to Europe, if the bloc continues backing the protesters.

Frattini, whose country is European nation to Libya, had already received thousands of Tunisian migrants after the overthrow of that country's authoritarian government last month.

The EU has deployed a 35-member team of customs officials and border agents to assist Italian authorities on the southernmost island of Lampedusa off the North African coastline.

"We Europeans are very concerned about the migratory flows impact that would be one of the consequences of more turbulence in North Africa," Frattini said.

But other ministers dismissed the Libyan threat.

"The European Union should not let itself be blackmailed (by Gadhafi)," said Werner Hoyer, Germany's state minister for foreign affairs.

____

AP writer Raf Casert contributed from Brussels.