Accused testifies

A Libyan man standing trial for conspiring to import heroin yesterday told jurors he did not know the man he was travelling with was carrying drugs.

Ibrahim Mohammed Elaswed explained that when he was arrested at the airport on his arrival at Malta with Mansour Muftah Nagem he did not know that Nagem had drugs strapped to his back and hidden in the soles of his shoes.

"I didn't even know that Mansour (Muftah Nagem) took drugs and had I known I would not have befriended him in the first place," Elaswed said.

Elaswed, 28, testified before Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono in his trial by jury. He is pleading not guilty to conspiring to traffic and import heroin and to the possession of the drug in circumstances denoting it was not for his personal use in November 2000.

Elaswed said he got to know Nagem about three months before they were arrested. Nagem helped him establish business contacts in Istanbul.

He said he thought that Nagem was an honest man until he found that Nagem told the police the drugs were his (Elaswed's).

Elaswed explained that because he was scared he told the police when he was arrested that he did not know Nagem. He categorically denied any connection with the drugs found on Nagem and denied giving Nagem the heroin-containing shoes.

The trial continues.