Violence in Libya Outrageous: Obama

President Barack Obama has termed the Gaddafi's crackdown on protestors in Libya as outrageous and unacceptable and said he is looking at the full range of options to respond to the crisis.

On Monday, Obama is also sending Secretary Clinton to Geneva, where she is expected to hold talks with her counterparts on events throughout the region.

Obama, in his first statement on the Libyan uprising, said the suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable. So are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters and further punish the people of Libya. These actions violate international norms and every standard of common decency. This violence must stop.

I've also asked my administration to prepare the full range of options that we have to respond to this crisis. This includes those actions we may take and those we will coordinate with our allies and partners, or those that we'll carry out through multilateral institutions, Obama said at the White House.

The president also said the change that is taking place across the region is being driven by the people of the region and doesn't represent the work of the United States or any foreign power.

It represents the aspirations of people who are seeking a better life, Obama added.

Libya, a country located in the Maghreb region of northern Africa, is torn by the mass protests and demonstrations against the government of Muammar al-Gaddafi, who rose to power in 1969 in a military coup.

The unrest in Libya follows similar protests in Libya's neighbours Egypt and Tunisia, leading to the ouster of entrenched leaders such as Hosni Mubarak. But Gaddafi, who has ruled the mainly desert country with a mixture of populism and tight control, is still fighting back.

Recently, he declared he was ready to die a martyr in Libya. I shall remain here defiant, he said on state television, dismissing protesters as rats and mercenaries.

Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the south east, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west.

Meanwhile, there were reports that though Gaddafi is consolidating his grip on Libya's capital, Tripoli, rebels tightened their control of key eastern cities and are advancing to the west.

The estimated death toll from four days of protests in cities across Libya has risen to at least 233 according to independent organization Human Rights Watch.

Surge in Oil Prices

Tensions in Libya have huge implications to the oil prices around the world as the African nation is one of the 10 richest oil producing countries. Libya pumps about 1.5 million barrels of oil a day, accounting for nearly 2 percent of world oil output.

Oil prices have crossed the $100-mark for the first time since Oct. 2008 on concerns that escalating tensions in Libya could halt exports. Currently, oil futures were up $3.65, 3.72 percent, to $101.75.