France called Wednesday for a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss slave-trading in Libya following video footage showing Africans being auctioned off in the war-torn country.

"France decided this morning to ask for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss this issue," Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told parliament.

"We are doing it as a permanent member of the Security Council. We have this capability and we are using it."