Muammar Gaddafi welcomes Malta's EU membership

Libya will be having a member of its family within the European Union once Malta joins the EU next May, Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi said yesterday.

Col Gaddafi was speaking to Maltese journalists accompanying President Guido de Marco on a state visit to Malta's north African neighbour.

The Libyan leader spoke to the press following a private meeting with President de Marco in a tent compound outside Sirte.

Asked by The Times how Libya viewed Malta's membership of the EU and if this could be beneficial to Libya, Col Gaddafi said: "We are satisfied at this development and I have expressed this feeling to your President. It will be of advantage to us for Malta to be a member of the EU because Malta is our friend and would assist in strengthening relations between Europe and Africa.

"We see Malta's membership as having a relative in the EU."

Asked about relations between the two countries, Col Gaddafi said "we have removed all obstacles which could hinder our friendship".

During his meeting with the Libyan leader held soon after his arrival, President de Marco said Libya's efforts towards peace were beneficial not just for the country but for the whole region.

Malta in the EU, he said, wanted to strengthen the Mediterranean region and, through its voice, together with that of other Mediterranean countries, it wanted to show that the Mediterranean was a region which deserved importance.

"The friendship between Malta and Libya can lead to Libya's friendship with the EU. The future of the two countries is bound together," Prof. de Marco said.

At the airport in Sirte, Prof. de Marco, who is accompanied by Mrs de Marco, was received by Mostafa Kharoubi, a member of the leadership.

Prof. de Marco said he felt very close to Libya and his visit was aimed at renewing and strengthening the friendship between the two countries.

Developments taking place in both Malta and Libya, he said, were aimed at leading to peace in the Mediterranean and Malta greatly appreciated the policy Libya was adopting - "a policy which is continuing to strengthen relations and which is aimed at promoting peace in North Africa and the Mediterranean".

"Both Malta and Libya are living an important moment... We have worked together in the past, we have to work together in the future. It is in the interest of both our peoples that we strengthen relations, increase our sense of friendship... This is my and my people's wish. We are a united people when it comes to Libya," he said.

Talks between Prof. de Marco and Col Gaddafi were carried out in Maltese and Arabic with Libya's long serving ambassador to Malta, Ali Nageem, serving as interpreter.

The Maltese delegation includes Foreign Minister Joe Borg, who is expected to meet his Libyan counterpart this morning, and Malta's ambassador to Libya, Richard Vella Laurenti.