AUSTRALIA has imposed its first sanctions on Libya, placing a travel ban and an arms embargo on Muammar Gaddafi and his close circle of cronies.

It means Gaddafi, members of his family and the regime's senior military and security personnel are prohibited from entering or transiting in Australia.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, in Cairo, said Gaddafi and his entourage are also banned from engaging in financial transactions with Australians.

It comes after the bloody authoritarian response to the civil uprising in Libya and no sign that Gaddafi is willing to relinquish his decades-long dictatorship.

"The Libyan regime's use of violence against its people is deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable" Mr Rudd said today.

"The time has come for Australia to reflect its grave concern by enacting these practical measures."

Mr Rudd also urged the UN Security Council to begin sanctions against the Libyan regime and to refer violence in the country to the International Criminal Court.

The US has also imposed sanctions on Libya.

President Barack Obama says that Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi needs to "leave now," having lost the legitimacy to rule, a White House statement says.

Mr Obama took the position - his most direct yet - in a telephone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the statement said.

"The President stated that when a leader's only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now," it said.

Australia has withdrawn its diplomats from Libya as worsening violence prompted the United Nations to impose sanctions on Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Australian Consul-General Tom Yates and two other officials had been evacuated to Malta as Gaddafi's bloody crackdown on anti-regime protesters intensified.

"As Prime Minister, I've got a duty of care to our consular staff and like other nations I formed the view that it was not safe to have them stay in Tripoli," Ms Gillard told Channel 9 today.

Britain, the US and Canada have also evacuated diplomats from the strife-torn country in recent days.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said 13 Australians remained in Libya.

Some had made arrangements to leave the country in the coming days while others had decided to stay, he said.

Mr Rudd said one of two Australians arrested by Libyan security forces had been released.

"We still have real concerns however about an Australian citizen who was put under arrest only a couple of days ago," he told ABC TV.

The UN Security Council later announced its own sanctions against regime figures.

The council also announced an arms embargo and ordered an International Criminal Court investigation into the bloodshed.

The UN believes more than 1000 people have been killed in the unrest.

Mr Rudd said the UN should also consider enforcing a no-fly zone over Libyan airspace to prevent further air force attacks on civilians.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said Australia's consulate in Tripoli would reopen as soon as security circumstances allowed.

DFAT urged Australians still in Libya to contact its 24-hour emergency centre on +61 2 6261 3305 or the Australian Embassy in Cairo on +202 2575 0444.



- with Agence-France Presse