Nearly all of the Australian war graves in a Libyan cemetery were damaged in a recent attack, the federal government has revealed.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says 50 of the 55 Australian graves in the Commonwealth Benghazi War Cemetery were among 238 damaged last month.
"Our Department of Veterans Affairs will be in contact with the families of those whose loved ones lie in those graves," she told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.
Forty-five of the damaged graves were marked and the other five were for unknown Australian soldiers.
The government will keep the pressure on Libya's interim government to ensure those responsible for the desecration are brought to justice, Ms Gillard said.
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Libya has apologised for the attacks and local authorities have detained several suspects.
More than 1200 Commonwealth troops who died in the north African desert battles of World War II are buried in the cemetery in the country's east.
Acting Foreign Minister Craig Emerson described the incident as a "tragedy".
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission will repair the headstones.
The government says there is no indication Australian graves were particularly targeted.
The graves of 10 different Commonwealth nationalities were damaged.
About a quarter of the headstones in the nearby Benghazi British Military Cemetery, which does not contain World War II graves, were also damaged last month.
Video footage of the attacks showed a mob smashing up headstones and a cross of sacrifice and declaring "they are dogs".
Local reports claimed the group were Islamists angered by the recent burning of a Koran at a NATO military base in Afghanistan.
