The Armed Forces of Malta have been asked to attend a meeting in Tripoli over the contested search and rescue zone, in a rare show of Libyan cooperation in issues of illegal migration.
Libya sent a verbal invitation to a Maltese delegation to attend a meeting to discuss the search and rescue area (SAR) in August, AFM Commander Carmel Vassallo told The Times.
"It's a positive sign... It's an opportunity to move on," the commander said.
Several months ago, the AFM had given their Libyan counterparts a draft of an SAR agreement, similar to the one being hammered out with the Greek authorities.
"We want to formalise how we should cooperate in search and rescue issues... We need to be good neighbours with Libya. We need each other after all," Brig. Vassallo said.
The last few months have proven to be a tug-of-war in the Mediterranean, as Libya reportedly refused to assist migrants in distress on several occasions, even if they were in the North African country's search and rescue waters. In the meantime, despite the occasional international flak, the AFM refused to enter Libyan waters when distress calls were made.
In the most notorious incident, at the end of May, 27 illegal migrants were forced to cling on to a Maltese-owned tuna pen in Libyan SAR waters for nearly 24 hours after the owner refused to take the men on board his boat for "security reasons".
As Malta and Libya shifted the onus onto each other, the migrants were eventually rescued by an Italian vessel.
On June 10, contact was lost with a boat with 25 illegal migrants, which encountered difficulties some 47 miles off the Libyan coast.
Initially refusing to send out help, purportedly because of rough weather, Libya eventually sent a search aircraft a day and a half after the migrants made their first distress call.
The AFM commander believes the EU could play a bigger role to engage Libya in the fight against illegal migration. The EU could especially help Libya with the influx of immigrants swarming the country from the south.
Brig. Vassallo said Libya has cooperated with the local authorities in the past, citing as an example the Piper Lance tragedy in 1995, which left five men missing. The aircraft had disappeared at the extreme end of Malta's SAR with Tunisia. As the search drew a blank, Libya offered to send an aircraft to assist in its territorial waters, despite the UN sanctions at the time.
However, Brig. Vassallo is aware Libya has a track record of backing out of high-profile meetings, sometimes at the 11th hour.
Two years ago, the government's adviser on immigration, Martin Scicluna, was meant to be heading to Libya with the tough task of convincing the authorities to help stem the wave of illegal migration. The meeting was never held.