Queen's baton visits Malta

Malta has joined 71 nations taking part in the Queen's Baton Relay Change in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games to be held in Melbourne in March next year.

The island is hosting the games' baton for two days. It arrived in Malta from Cyprus on Sunday and leaves for Jersey and England today. The baton, which symbolises the gathering of people from across the Commonwealth, is one of the traditions of the Commonwealth Games. Education, Youth and Employment Minister Louis Galea launched the local leg of the baton relay at Floriana yesterday morning.

Young students then took the baton, which contains a message from Queen Elizabeth to the athletes, to Auberge de Castille where they met Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

Moving on to Ta' Xbiex, the baton was presented to mayor Antoinette Vassallo who in turn passed it on to the British High Commission. In the last leg, the baton was conveyed to Malta's national rugby team by Australian High Commissioner Richard Palk.

This is the first time that the Melbourne 2006 Queen's Baton Relay will be visiting all member nations of the Commonwealth, making it the world's longest and most inclusive relay.

The relay began at Buckingham Palace, in London on March 14 and concludes as it is carried in the Melbourne cricket ground during the opening ceremony of the XVIII Commonwealth Games next year.