The end of Muammar Gaddafi’s leadership is “inevitable”, according to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi who yesterday called upon the EU and the international community to assist Malta in its humanitarian mission.
“The end of Gaddafi’s rule is inevitable. If this doesn’t happen, the territorial integrity of Libya will be jeopardised to the detriment of the Libyan people,” Dr Gonzi said last night.
Malta was the protagonist in a “huge humanitarian mission” but the situation, which was already “critical”, had entered a “sensitive and delicate” phase where hundreds of people could be left without the basic necessities, such as food and medicines.
“I’m proposing that we get together immediately on an EU and international level to provide to and coordinate these needs and Malta will handle the logistics,” Dr Gonzi said.
Fielding questions by journalists, Dr Gonzi confirmed the Maltese government had refused landing permission to a Libyan plane on Wednesday because it was an attempt to take back two Mirage F1 fighter jets flown to Malta by defecting pilots.
“I have no doubt the passengers on that plane were pilots meant to fly the Mirage jets back to Libya. That’s why we refused them landing permission,” Dr Gonzi said.
Denying reports that Col Gaddafi’s daughter, Aisha, was on board the plane in question, Dr Gonzi explained there were six or seven passengers, including Mirage jet pilots, on board.
The arrival of the two defected pilots, who flew the jets over last Monday, escalated an already critical situation. The pilots, two colonels, requested asylum and their case was in the hands of the Refugee Commissioner, Dr Gonzi explained.
Also, Libya’s request to have the planes returned was not “upheld” and the fact these were still in Malta demonstrated it, he said.
Dr Gonzi said Malta would be implementing the sanctions unanimously imposed by the UN Security Council.
“Just a few minutes ago, I signed a declaration and a special edition of the Government Gazette is being printed as we speak that will immediately bring into effect these sanctions,” Dr Gonzi said.
From the very beginning, the government had made it a priority to safely bring back all the Maltese working or residing in Libya. At the time the Prime Minister was speaking, 178 Maltese had returned and another 33 arrived last night on the Virtu Ferries catamaran. There are 53 Maltese still in Libya, including 23 who did not want to leave and 30 who were in the desert.
Dr Gonzi warned that, in the future, it might be almost “impossible” to get the Maltese out. A “clear message” had been sent out on Saturday to return quickly to Malta and the authorities had tried to persuade those who wanted to stay.
“There is no guarantee we will be able to continue what we provided so far (evacuation by air and sea). I would like all to understand it will be harder if not impossible,” Dr Gonzi said.
The Maltese Embassy in Tripoli is now operating with a skeleton staff as two officials remained behind with strict instructions on what to do in a critical situation. Maltese Ambassador George Cassar was among those who arrived on the catamaran last night.
Also, there would be no scheduled Air Malta flights in the coming days unless the situation improved but this was a decision that had to be taken on a daily basis, Dr Gonzi said.
He said the government fully cooperated with any country and organisation that requested help for its nationals or employees.
‘Malta could not accommodate huge influx of refugees’
“About 8,000 people from 89 countries, including 24 EU states, travelled from Libya to Malta,” Dr Gonzi said.
No stone was left unturned to make their stay as short but as comfortable as possible and Dr Gonzi personally ordered that all red tape was cut and that visas were issued as quickly as possible.
However, thousands of people could cross over to Malta in the coming hours and days as the “critical” situation worsened. “The information we have on the ground is they are running low on food and medicines. We have to prepare ourselves for this,” Dr Gonzi said.
Malta could not accommodate the huge influx of refugees, which was “something we have been saying for years” and was an international problem. “Now, more than ever, we really need to find concrete solutions to burden sharing,” he said.
Being proactive and finding solutions – both on an EU and an international level – by providing the people’s basic needs might avert a mass movement of immigrants.
Malta had, as requested, carried out its humanitarian mission but that is where it stopped. Dr Gonzi denied Malta was preparing itself to act as a military base or that it had received requests from governments to be used as one.