Judges at the International Criminal Court will decide on Monday whether to issue an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for crimes against humanity.
A panel of three judges will give their response to a request by the court's prosecutor to have Colonel Gaddafi, 69, his son Seif al-Islam, 39, and another close associate arrested.
They can grant the request, ask for more information or simply turn it down.
In May, the court's prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, asked for warrants on counts of murder and persecution committed since mid-February when an uprising started.
The third man targeted is Colonel Gaddafi's brother-in-law and the head of Libyan intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi.
The investigation came after the case was referred to the court by the United Nations Security Council on 26 February.
In his submission, Mr Moreno-Ocampo accused Colonel Gaddafi of having had a personal hand in planning and implementing "a policy of widespread and systematic attacks against civilians and demonstrators and dissidents in particular.
"Gaddafi's plan expressly included the use of lethal force against demonstrators and dissidents," it added.
Established in 2002, the ICC is the world's first permanent, treaty-based court set up to try those accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide if the accused's own country cannot or will not do so.
