German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called for a travel ban on Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's regime and an asset freeze targeting the ruling family, saying rising violence made sanctions "unavoidable."

Westerwelle said he'll call for another emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to consider the measures. The minister also called the European Union's inability to agree on sanctions "too hesitant" and urged more action.

"Sanctions are unavoidable considering this extraordinary violation of human rights, the extraordinary use of violence," Westerwelle said in an interview today on Deutschlandfunk radio.

Qaddafi clung to power in Libya as spreading violence threatened to plunge the country into civil war. The U.S. said it was discussing measures against the regime, which reinforced its defense of the capital of Tripoli with tanks as opponents consolidated control of the country's oil-rich east.

Westerwelle stopped short of calling for economic sanctions, saying that a halt to gas and oil supplies would hurt the Libyan population as it seeks to overthrow the regime.

The UN Security Council on Feb. 22 condemned the Libyan regime's use of violence against protesters, though stopped short of taking punitive measures against Qaddafi's regime. Germany is one of the 15 members of the Security Council.