INTERPOL HAS ISSUED A GLOBAL alert for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and 15 of his family members following threats identified in UN sactions against him, the police organisation said today.

Interpol said it was issuing an Orange Notice against the 16 Libyan nationals to warn other countries of the “danger posed by the movement of these individuals and their assets”.

It also said the order is being sent out to assist the UN Security Council and International Criminal Court (ICC) in their sanctions and investigation of Gaddafi.

The UN Security Council has imposed a global asset freeze on Gaddafi, his four sons and one daughter, as well as a travel ban on the whole family and 10 close associates.

Libya’s government has already been referred to the ICC to investigate allegations of crimes against humanity during their violent crackdown of the recent uprising. In response, Gaddafi denounced the ICC as representing a “new form of terrorism”, ABC News reported yesterday.

Today, Gaddafi’s forces engaged with opposition groups which has seen the city of Tripoli go into lockdown. Gaddafi’s supporters are reportedly using violence means to discourage any further protesters joining in the rebel movement. Doctors have said that at least 17 people have been killed after an explosion at an ammunition depot in Benghazi, the eastern city under rebel control.

- Includes reporting from the AP

Read: Tripoli ‘tense’ as more protests expected in Libya >