Gaddafi arms supporters, US imposes sanctions

---

People in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, are braced for further battles after the country's leader, Col Moamar Gaddafi, said he would open weapons depots to arm his supporters, report agencies. The evacuation of thousands of foreign workers continues by air, by sea and overland, but some remain trapped. World powers struggled to find a way to stop Gaddafi lashing out at his people as he clings to power in Tripoli, the last big city where an uprising against his rule has yet to take hold. US President Barak Obama signed an order prohibiting transactions related to Libya and blocking property, the first major step to isolate the North African leader, who has used army, police and irregular forces to try to crush the protests. The UN estimates more than 1,000 have died in the 10-day-old revolt. On Friday, an anti-government demonstration in Tripoli came under heavy gunfire. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged Friday Security Council to take "concrete action" over the Libya crisis. Speaking at a meeting of the Security Council in New York, Mr Ban said Colonel Gaddafi had threatened civilians with ''civil war'' if anti-government protests in Libya continued Western powers, with whom Gaddafi has exploited Libya's oil after years of diplomatic isolation, have struggled to keep up with the pace of protests that have swept away Western-backed strongmen in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia already this year. Libya's ambassador to the UN, a childhood friend of Gaddafi, became the latest official to defect as regime loyalists opened fire in shootings that spread through Tripoli, killing several unarmed civilians.