The new AFM Commander Brigadier Martin Xuereb talks about the army’s handling of illegal immigrants and says the army has never denied assistance or rescue to anybody who was in distress. He also defends the army’s decision to supply water, life jackets and fuel to migrants insisting there are various interpretations of what constitutes a boat in distress.

Brig. Xuereb tells Kurt Sansone that the participation of soldiers in the EU’s sea patrols off the Somali coast aboard foreign military ships depends on clarifications the army has requested on a number of issues.

He does not think there is any link between Partnership for Peace membership and the American ambassador’s recent request for Malta to help Nato’s peace efforts in Afghanistan. Brig. Xuereb says Malta had made it clear when joining PfP that it was a neutral country and had no intention of joining Nato.

Read the full interview in The Sunday Times

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