Libyan-Maltese relations

Mr Cecil Amato Gauci (The Sunday Times, April 4), in his analysis of what was obviously a piece of pro-Libya propaganda on the part of Eng. Fathi Abushkewa (The Sunday Times, March 21), was being far too indulgent in allowing "bygones be bygones".

In the last two paragraphs of his article Eng. Abushkewa states: "(Libya)... appreciating Malta as a neighbour and a friend..." Not always, Eng. Abushkewa. Mr Amato Gauci touched on the Libyan gunboat-oil drilling platform incident, which is all part of the historical record. Also part of the record is Libya's declaration of its 200-mile exclusion zone. Malta lies well within that zone.

Despite Eng. Abushkewa's protestations to the contrary, there is more than a passing parallel to the fate of Saddam Hussein and Iraq's claim of Kuwait as Iraq's 19th province. Had it not been for the US Navy, which mounted a vigorous and forceful challenge to Libya's 200-mile exclusion zone declaration, who knows what the outcome would have been?

Meantime, a succession of weak and spineless Maltese administrations forever plucking away at the harp of neutrality, turned a blind eye if not tacitly acquiesced to Libya using Malta for its own purposes. Figuratively speaking, Malta burned.

Libyan agents have run rampant in our islands spying on Libyan dissidents and doing worse perhaps. Incidentally, there was no mention in Eng. Abushkewa's article of the murder of PC Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London. The intended target, no doubt, was a Libyan dissident.

We also know that the operation that brought down Pan Am 103 was launched from Malta, by Libyan agent(s) abusing their official positions within our own airport operations while using their knowledge of Maltese processes and procedures.

Also, during the weeks leading up to the trial of the accused, our ever-willing-to-please government gave Libyans permission to demonstrate near the War Memorial in Floriana to protest the accused's "innocence".

In allowing such a charade to be carried out, our government was complicitous in dishonouring the memory of our war dead through this poor choice of venue, as well as the memory of those who died above and in the town of Lockerbie.

Subsequently, the constant references to Malta throughout the Lockerbie investigation caused irreparable harm and loss of prestige to Malta's image.

Besides inviting Malta to participate in the anticipated investment opportunities that Libya's new open-door policy is bound to offer, the Libyan government can do much more to help Malta, namely:

1. Vigorously pursue, prosecute, and penalise heavily all traffickers of illegal drugs. These appear to find Malta a lucrative market for their illicit trade.

2. Vigorously pursue, prosecute, and penalise heavily all traffickers in illegal immigration. Not by coincidence, Malta appears to have gained a reputation as a "nice place to aim for", even in the vast Mediterranean.

3. Utilise Libya's resources to intercept and repatriate illegal immigrants caught trying to make their way across the Mediterranean.

4. Assist the Maltese authorities in repatriating the ever growing population of illegal immigrants being detained by the Maltese government. One can only speculate that the majority started their journey from Libyan shores.

5. Restrict the travel to Malta of criminal elements from Libya who have been deported by the Maltese authorities. All too often, such individuals found it easy to obtain alternative travel documents and made their way back to Malta only to continue where they left off previously.

Perhaps the "cheap petrol" Eng. Abushkewa alluded to can be considered compensation for the oil Libya forcibly prevented Malta from extracting from the continental shelf.