Arab League chief Amr Mussa today called for a no-fly zone over Libya and said he wants the group to play a role in imposing it.
"I do not know how nor who will impose this zone, that remains to be seen. The Arab League can also play a role, that is what I will recommend," Mussa said in an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel.
"I am talking about a humanitarian action. It consists, with a no-fly zone, of supporting the Libyan people in their fight for freedom against a regime that is more and more disdainful."
Arab League foreign ministers were to meet in Cairo to discuss the crisis in Libya. The league's green light is seen as key to plans to impose a no-fly zone.
In terms of which organisation might be in charge of the zone, Mussa said: "That depends on the decision of the (UN) Security Council. The United Nations, the Arab League, the African Union, the Europeans -- everyone should participate."
Mussa said Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi was showing a lack of the "awareness that presidents (Zine El Abidine) Ben Ali in Tunisia and (Egypt's) Hosni Mubarak demonstrated by resigning."
He said he believed in a "domino effect" in revolts in the Arab world and said he expected other autocratic regimes to fall.
"This is only the beginning," he said, noting that the situation in Yemen in particular was "extremely tense."
"The region is on the verge of changing radically in a very short time. What we are seeing is the discovery of true democracy by the Arab world," he said. "It's a unique chance."