* ICC referral could push Libyan leader further into corner
* Difficult balance between justice and peaceful compromise
* War crimes charges could become diplomatic bargaining chip
By Peter Apps, Political Risk Correspondent
LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - Foreign powers hope threatening Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi with a war crimes trial at The Hague will help drive him from office, but some worry such talk might instead leave him thinking he has no way out.
The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to refer Libya to the International Criminal Court following its crackdown on protesters. ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said on Monday attacks on civilians could be a crime against humanity and warranted a full investigation.
But -- just as with previous ICC probes into Congolese warlords, Sudan's president and Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army -- there is the lingering worry that prosecutions will make compromise and finding a solution harder.
Part of the problem, experts say, is that there is simply no real way to know what impact the threat will have on Libya's always somewhat erratic leader.
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