Any indiscriminate attack on civilians in Benghazi could result in prosecution, the International Criminal Court warned the Libyan government on Friday.

"Any indiscriminate attack against civilians would constitute crimes against humanity," prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo told journalists in The Hague.

"The commanders will be responsible. As the prosecutor of the ICC, I will request an arrest warrant against them."

Earlier this month Moreno Ocampo announced a probe into Gaddafi, three of his sons and key aides for crimes against humanity arising from the bloody crackdown on Libya's popular revolt.

The prosecutor's ongoing probe into crimes against humanity follows a referral by the UNSC which said "the widespread and systematic attacks currently taking place against the civilian population may amount to crimes against humanity".

Moreno Ocampo has "put on notice" a group of key Gaddafi aides, who may be prosecuted for "not preventing, stopping or punishing these crimes".

The ICC, based in The Hague, is the world's only permanent criminal court with universal jurisdiction to try genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.