"I have no blood on my hands. I never harmed, let alone killed anyone," Turab Ahmed Sheikh insists.

Mr Sheikh, a Pakistani married to a Maltese woman, claims that had he had his way, the Yioham 1996 Christmas Day tragedy, when about 230 illegal immigrants drowned in the Malta-Sicily Channel, would never have taken place.

Mr Sheikh returned to Malta recently after having been acquitted by an Italian court of involuntary homicide.

He was extradited to Italy last October in connection with the tragedy when the illegal immigrants drowned as they were being transferred from the Yioham, a fish processing vessel, to an 18-metre long Maltese registered launch in rough weather.

"Of course, I regret what happened. But in a way, I had nothing to do with it. I did all I would to prevent it actually," he said.

Mr Sheikh recalled the details of how it all happened. He said he was involved in a circle of people who had often taken people to Sicily from Malta. Sometimes they transferred them to Sicily from ships waiting off Sicily, as they meant to do with the Yioham.

He said a Greek ship owner, who is still on the run after the Yioham tragedy, had informed him and others that the Yioham, with some 500 illegal immigrants on board, would be off Sicily in the week before Christmas.

The Yioham had left Greece and taken the immigrants on board from Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. Another ship, the Friendship, was also involved.

The immigrants were "booked" through sub-agents disguised as travel agents in India and Pakistan. Most of those who perished were Indians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans.

Mr Sheikh said the launch that was going to be used had some problems. It was taking in water and the bilge pumps were not working properly.

The weather was very foul on Christmas eve but, despite his protests, his colleagues decided the operation should go ahead as planned.

"You don't go out of Marsaxlokk in force six winds in summer let alone in the dead of night in winter when the winds are even stronger," he said.

But his colleagues argued that the Yioham had already been off Sicily for days. They also expected surveillance around the coast not to be so tight on Christmas eve.

Their plan was to abandon the launch after disembarking the immigrants and return to Malta in a power boat. Although the powerboat owner also did not want to take the risk, two foreigners and a Maltese man involved in the operation wanted to go ahead.

The three eventually sailed out without him.

"We were getting around Lm10,000 each for that job. It sounds a lot of money for a night's work. There was a lot of preparatory work beforehand but the money was good. The risks were just too great that night though," he said.

Mr Sheikh said that worried that something was about to go wrong, he had kept radio contact with his colleagues but eventually he lost contact with them.

He heard about the tragedy on the news and later learnt that one of the three had survived as he boarded the Yioham. The other two, including the Maltese national, had perished with the immigrants. He had gone to speak to their wives and they, in turn, informed the police.

Mr Sheikh said he did not blame the wives for reporting him and he had immediately told the police the whole story. He gave them the coordinates of where the boat had to meet the Yioham and these coordinates were later found on the Yioham.

"I said the truth from the outset. No action could be taken against me in Malta about the incident as I had not broken any laws. The Italians later sought my extradition and I have now been acquitted. Of the 13 people wanted about this case, I am the only one who has faced charges.

"I wanted to go to Italy to face the charges. Had I been guilty, I was ready to take the punishment and start afresh after serving my sentence."

How did he get into this "business"?

"I had a restaurant serving Indian food in Bugibba and when you have a restaurant you meet all sorts of people. I often had requests by people to help them leave Malta. I knew a Tunisian who is now dead. He had drowned off Portopalo while trying to flee Italian police after he had off-loaded immigrants in Sicily a few years ago. And I acted as a sort of go-between.

"I started making some money on the side like this. The money was good. There were some who paid $1,500 to be taken to Sicily. I saw it as offering a service to these people. I knew it was illegal but I never harmed anyone.

"They were willing to pay to go to Sicily and I was willing to take them or find people who were willing to do so. You often hear of people who are thrown overboard close to the shore but I was never involved in anything of the sort.

"People were always landed on a beach. The southern coast of Sicily is studded with beaches."

Mr Sheikh said some immigrants had kept contact with him after they were taken to Sicily and one particular person called him from Canada a few weeks after he had been landed in Sicily. Others ended up in Germany or the UK. Some remained in Italy.

"Italy needs them. There are a lot of jobs in agriculture. They go to pick potatoes or other vegetables or fruits and are paid some €40 daily," he said.

Mr Sheikh said he was willing to meet the India-based committee of the Malta-India Boat Tragedy.

"I never lied about the story. I always spoke the truth. If they want to meet me, I am willing to meet them. I will tell them how sorry I am about what happened. But I hold my head up high and had I had my way the tragedy would not have happened," he said.

Mr Sheikh said that although he was extradited in October, he only appeared before the court in June and was acquitted in the first and only sitting.

"Then I was given €2 and told I could go home. I was owed €320 for work I did in the prison clinic but was not given any of it. A priest offered me shelter until I came to Malta," he said.

Mr Sheikh said he found it most unfair that the Italian police now wanted to accuse him of murder.

"I was not even there and I had done all I could to prevent the tragic accident. How can they accuse me of voluntarily trying to kill these people," he said.

Mr Sheikh said he regretted what had happened and wanted to speak about it to clear his name.

"I lost my restaurant. My marriage is on the rocks and people look at me as a criminal. I do not have a single cent or a roof over my head and were it not for the help of a few good friends who offered me a room in a guest house and who feed me, I would be begging on the streets."

His lawyer, Joe Giglio, had been extremely helpful, especially in the more difficult moments, he said.

"I am now registering for work. But I do not want to run another restaurant. I do not want to burn my hands again," he said.

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