'National treason'

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told Parliament yesterday that the Foreign Ministry was investigating a newspaper report that Ives Debarro, a former Second Secretary at the Maltese Embassy in Tripoli had, in 1971, passed "sensitive" information to D. K. Haskell, an official at the British Embassy, regarding meetings between Maltese delegations and Libyan ministers.

Dr Gonzi was answering a number of questions by Labour MP Alfred Sant who had asked whether the government had any statement on this disclosure, which he described as "a most serious case of national treason".

The Prime Minister said that following the results of the investigations, the government would seek legal advice and then act accordingly. The case, he said, dated back to 38 years ago and one had to verify facts.

Dr Sant said that this act by Mr Debarro was public information in the UK under the Freedom of Information Act, and it did not follow that the case should be forgotten because it was 38 years old.

Mr Debarro is at present responsible for the repatriation arrangements of illegal immigrants.