Italy agreed this afternoon to send a warship to rescue 120 migrants who have been stranded all day long on a boat without fuel and water.
The boat was reported drifting in the Libyan rescue zone but no attempt at rescue was made by the Libyan authorities.
Earlier this afternoon, Neil Falzon, head of the UNHCR Office in Malta, said the presence of the boat was made known by a person on the boat who phoned a UNHCR representative at Lampedusa using a satellite phone at 6 a.m.
Those on board the boat include 25 women and six children.
Mr Falzon said the Libyan, Italian and Maltese authorities had been informed.
"So far it looks like nobody is going out to help them, but since they are in the Libyan region, this is primarily a Libyan responsibility," Mr Falzon had said.
Meanwhile an Italian corvette, the Urania, this afternoon rescued a group of 37 migrants from the Libyan rescue zone 85 nautical miles south-south east of Lampedua and is taking them to the Italian island.
New Alternattiva Demokratika leader Arnold Cassola in a strongly-worded statement criticised the Libyan attitude to the crisis.
"We are totally appalled at the way Libyan President Gheddafi and his authorities are neglecting basic human rights and indeed are continuously playing about with the lives of human beings by not helping out in the Search and Rescue area assigned to Libya through international law", he said.
"Indeed, the Libyan authorities are not only risking the lives of poor men, women and children by not offering them any aid on the open seas, but they are actually contributing to sending over thousands of migrants from Libyan shores in order to blackmail and pressure European governments.
"The fact is that even when bilateral agreements have been reached - the Italian government has, for example, donated six boats to the Libyan government for the patrolling of its coasts over six months ago - the Libyan authorities do not respect them, thus proving to be very unreliable partners for their European counterparts".
Dr Cassola said Alternattiva Demokratika was appealing to the Libyan authorities to act in a serious way, be credible and ratify immediately the Geneva convention on asylum seekers.
"Moreover, the Prime minister and Foreign Minister and the MLP should interrupt their silence on this matter and address the issue openly with President Gheddafi, calling things by their real name and not succumbing any longer to more blackmail".
He said the European Union should play a greater role in ensuring that responsibility and burden is shared equally amongst EU member states, as Malta and other southern EU countries were being disproportionately affected by the immigration issue.