President Abela’s sacked right-hand man mum on claim he has been cleared

President George Abela’s former right-hand man has refused to comment on a claim that investigations have found no proof that he leaked confidential documents to the press.

“Doesn’t everyone say what they want,” former head of secretariat Olaf Terribile asked The Times when contacted yesterday, adding that he wanted to be left alone.

This has been Mr Terribile’s approach with the media since last July, when Dr Abela announced that he had lost faith in his top aide and called for an inquiry into allegations that he leaked documents.

A board of inquiry, headed by former Cabinet secretary Alfred Fiorini Lowell, was then set up to “establish the facts” but any findings have so far been kept under wraps.

It-Torċa, the Sunday newspaper owned by the General Workers’ Union, yesterday claimed Mr Terribile had been cleared of all accusations.

Mr Fiorini Lowell has refused to comment on the case, saying it was not his brief to do so. Yesterday, however, he implied the inquiry was not fully conclusive, which was why it had been passed on to the Attorney General so that he would see whether any legal steps should be taken.

Even the office of the Attorney General, which was asked to study the case at the end of last July, has failed to answer questions by The Times about the advice it submitted to the Office of the President.

Meanwhile, the head of the civil service Godwin Grima said he would not comment “at this stage”.

Sources have long been claiming that the board of inquiry found no wrongdoing by Mr Terribile but that the news would be too embarrassing for the President since he effectively sacked the long-standing civil servant over the matter in June.

Mr Terribile has since returned to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The allegations against him were originally made by the President’s public relations officer, Marica Mizzi, who said that during a state dinner she was told that Mr Terribile had passed on confidential documents to reporters. The person Ms Mizzi said had given her the information later denied saying Mr Terribile had given him any documents.

Her allegations came after a series of newspaper reports alleging financial irregularities within the Office of the President.