BBC News with Marion Marshall

Libya's diplomats at the United Nations have called for international

intervention

to stop the government's violent action against street demonstrations in their homeland. The deputy ambassador Ibrahim Omar Al Dabashi said Libyans must be protected from what he called a

genocide

. He told the BBC that the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi should be put on trial.

"Certainly, the best scenario is to have him before the court, to prosecute him and to know from him everything about the crimes he committed before, whether it is the genocide of the prison of Abu Saleem or the genocide he is committing now or the disappearance of certain important personalities, and all the other crimes he has committed during the 42 years in power in Libya."

The Libyan diplomats in New York urged the UN to impose a no-fly zone over the Libyan capital Tripoli, where there had been reports of warplanes attacking protesters. A BBC correspondent has sent this report from Tripoli.

The streets are almost empty, only heavy-security presence with armed police or security with civilian outfits

monitor

ing every corner of the city. Shops are closed, and few bakeries are open where people

lined up

to get their bread. There's a strong sense of tension here. Supporters of Colonel Gaddafi drove through the city, keeping horned, holding the green flag in what looked like an orchestrated scene. And as the sun set, heavy gunfire is heard nearby in the city centre.