Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is not likely to visit Malta this year despite the announcement made last January by his Foreign Affairs Minister that he was set to visit in March.
However, preparations are under way for him to come early next year during a scheduled meeting between 10 Mediterranean countries, known as the Five plus Five, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told The Times following a short weekend visit to Tripoli.
The freshly-appointed ambassador to Malta, Saadun Ismail Suayeh yesterday confirmed there was no date yet for the visit but added he hoped it would take place “as soon as possible”.
The Five plus Five meeting will be the first held by the grouping in a number of years and involve leaders from five North African and five Southern European states aimed at enhancing cooperation. Malta’s bid to hold the meeting was endorsed by Italy and Libya when Dr Gonzi visited Tripoli in June.
The visit of Col. Gaddafi, which has been on the cards for several years, was being “worked upon” and would be one of the many things on the agenda of the new ambassador, Dr Gonzi said.
The Prime Minister visited Libya last Saturday – his second visit in as many months – primarily to see Palm City, a luxury residential complex for foreigners working in Libya owned by Maltese company Corinthia.
“This will be yet another project that will honour our country,” he said, adding that together with other investments, both in Libya and in Malta, “jobs will increase and the economic relationship between the two countries will continue to improve in everyone’s interest”. Dr Gonzi did not meet Col. Gaddafi during his short weekend stay, which took place days after opposition leader Joseph Muscat met with the Libyan leader in Tripoli.
The Prime Minister met Foreign Affairs Minister Moussa Koussa as well as Prime Minister Baghadadi al-Mahmudi, and they discussed issues like visas, immigration and investment. There was no mention, however, of the plans by BP to start drilling for oil off the Libyan coast – a contentious issue Dr Muscat said he had discussed with Col Gaddafi last week.
The two Prime Ministers also discussed the idea of raising the level of cooperation between the two countries, by turning a technical commission into a political one. This political commission would discuss political and economic issues such as fishing, water and immigration. A decision should be taken by October.
Meanwhile, they signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a training centre in Malta – at the Libyan-owned institute at Ta’ Giorni – for Libyans to be trained in management and human resources.
“They will learn here and return to Libya to work there, but Malta will be able to take advantage of the Libyan investment in our country,” Dr Gonzi said, adding that this would generate further employment.
Like Malta, Libya had huge potential for growth and had to invest in its human resources, he added, stressing, however, that this was just a memorandum of understanding to continue discussing this possibility.