One of the pregnant women who arrived in Malta on a boat a few days ago gave birth only two days after landing here, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this morning.

Fifty-five Somalis were rescued from a sinking dinghy a week ago today. They were divided into two groups on the high seas with 28 being brought to Malta and the rest taken to Libya. The army said those who boarded the Libyan boat did so voluntarily but the claim was disputed by migrants.

The Prime Minister has ruled out an independent inquiry into the army's behaviour.

Speaking during a question and answer programme on Radio 101, Dr Gonzi said the immigrants were victims of particular circumstances, they were human beings and they deserved all the support they could get to be saved.

“This is our duty,” he said adding that he could never accept messages and e-mails, such as the terrifying ones he received urging him to “let these people drown”.

Dr Gonzi said he believed the majority of Maltese people did not want this. A person’s primary duty was to save these people from danger, whatever the reason.

Thanking the army for their work saying soldiers put their lives in danger to save others, the Prime Minister said that he asked the army for an explanation and he was assured that the Maltese had honoured their moral duty, removed the dangers and the operation was carried out according to regulations.

This clearly showed that while the immigration problem had been mitigated, it was still there

Two weeks ago, he recalled, he discussed the problem with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and they agreed to unite with other countries to press for the issue to be given priority importance by the EU.

They would also press for a common policy and an EU agreement with Libyan government on special arrangements to be reached.