France said on Thursday a UN-backed team should be sent to Libya to investigate possible crimes against humanity following the bloody crackdown on the revolt there.

Defence Minister Alain Juppe said he hoped Muammar Gaddafi's rule was nearing an end and that he would sign up to a halt to purchases of Libyan oil if such a move was among international sanctions considered.

"I hope wholeheartedly Gaddafi is living his last moments as leader," Juppe said in an interview on France Inter radio. Asked if those sanctions should include oil, he said: "If that option were proposed I would go for it."

France, like many other countries, was slow to respond to a popular uprising in former colony Tunisia that inspired the wave of revolt now unfurling across the Arab world. It appeared to be responding more stridently on week-long upheaval in Libya.

"We want an independent, impartial and credible inquiry team sent to Libya under the auspices of the United Nations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

"This mission would be able to measure the scale of crimes committed and notably whether crimes against humanity occurred," he said in an electronic media briefing.

World leaders have condemned Gaddafi's suppression of the week-long revolt in which hundreds have been killed, according to human rights groups.

French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie scheduled phone talks for later on Thursday with US counterpart Hillary Clinton and her ministry issued a statement saying: "This violence could constitute to crimes against humanity".

"Every possible response should be studied, including taking the matter up with the international justice authorities," the French Foreign Ministry statement said.

Condemning violence
Paris urged members of the UN Human Rights Council to rally behind a statement condemning the violence in Libya.

The UN Security Council agreed a statement on Tuesday calling for an end to violence. But diplomats said a formal resolution requiring UN action was not immediately likely.

France and Germany have pushed European Union states to consider sanctions and have won agreement to look into the matter. Some governments, including Italy, warn of economic problems if oil and gas supplies are disrupted.

The UN Human Rights Council will hold an urgent session on Libya this Friday at the request of Western and Latin American nations, who are pushing for an international investigation into the killings of protesters.

But with a majority of Asian and African nations - backed by Russia, China and Cuba - declining to support a draft resolution, diplomats say it was likely to be heavily watered down and perhaps not passed at all at the emergency meeting.

France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, called on the UN Rights Council to adopt the draft, which would also seek the expulsion of Libya from the group.

(Source: Reuters)