Gaddafi holds second unscheduled meeting with Fenech Adami
Cooperation agreement on health services signed
Malta and Libya yesterday signed a cooperation agreement on health services.
The agreement was signed in Tripoli by Social Policy Minister John Dalli and Libyan Health Minister Mohammed Rashid on the last day of President Eddie Fenech Adami's official visit.
The memorandum of understanding, which should be followed up in the coming months with more concrete agreements, seeks to establish a close cooperation between the two countries on research and training, the minister told journalists after the signing ceremony.
Among other things, the government is looking into offering training to Libyan medical staff both at a specialised level and more general levels, such as nursing, and exploring joint areas of research interest.
In particular, Mr Dalli mentioned research into chronic conditions like diabetes, of which both Libya and Malta have a high incidence.
There is also an interest on the Maltese side to have medics spend time serving in Libya's health service in order to gain exposure to communicable diseases that have been suppressed locally but which are still present on the African continent and could therefore become a threat again if carried by the significant influx of migrants crossing over.
Such tours of duty, the minister explained, would help doctors keep abreast of the current practice in treating such diseases and make them more alert to their symptoms.
"I think we can both benefit from pooling resources and sharing data in this area," he said, commenting optimistically about the MOU.
Dr Fenech Adami's visit to Libya started with what diplomatic sources are dubbing as a very productive meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Col. Gaddafi, who still has the final say in Libya, seems to have given his seal of approval to joint oil exploration in one of the disputed marine areas on the border between the two countries.
The issue has been one of the thorniest disagreements Malta has ever had with Libya and even led, in the early 1980s, the Libyan authorities to send a gunboat to stop an Italian oil rig, commissioned by the Maltese government, from drilling in the Medina Bank.
There had been a vague understanding that the way forward would be joint exploration rather than taking the matter to the international courts again, as happened in 1984, but it is only now that Col. Gaddaffi made a political commitment that real progress can be registered.
In fact, the Foreign Office is now hoping to be able to secure a commitment for joint exploration in a visit which Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is expected to make to Libya in the next couple of months.
The warm welcome given to the Maltese delegation by the Libyans and a second, impromptu meeting called by Col. Gaddafi with Dr Fenech Adami yesterday, just before the latter left Tripoli for Malta, is raising hopes of a definitive conclusion to the oil issue in the coming months.