Former Labour minister Reno Calleja yesterday criticised the Prime Minister for asserting that the end of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s government was “inevitable”.

The Labour Party immediately disassociated itself from Mr Calleja’s comments, saying the opposition leader was being continuously “consulted” by the Prime Minister. The party also said it was assured Malta’s role was purely of a humanitarian nature.

Mr Calleja, who was Tourism Minister in the government of former Labour leader Dom Mintoff, described Lawrence Gonzi’s comment as a “sweeping statement”.

“If he (Gaddafi) survives, and he is known to be a survivor, he will never forget what the Prime Minister of Malta, a close and friendly country, had to say about him when he was drowning. The Prime Minister should have called for dialogue and mediation and not follow blindly what others, whose only interest is to get their hands on Libya’s oil reserves, are saying,” Mr Calleja said in a comment to timesofmalta.com.

“I am also worried that we have British military planes in Malta with SAS troops on them, under the guise they are on a humanitarian mission. We are a neutral and non-aligned state, a status that was instrumental in preventing any terrorist attack in Malta.”

He added that Nato may get involved and attack Tripoli if the rebels decided to close in on the capital.

“A bloodbath seems to be inevitable because thousands of hardcore Gaddafi loyalists are not going to give up easily. Malta must not get involved,” Mr Calleja insisted.

Malta, as a neutral and non-aligned country, he said, must not appear to be taking sides. Other former terrorists, such as Palestinian’s Yasser Arafat, had ended up winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Malta, therefore, should keep a balance and focus on humanitarian aid, he argued.

Later, in a clarification to his comments to make sure he was not “misunderstood”, Mr Calleja said Malta should act as a mediator “not a judge” since it had so much to lose economically if Libya was in trouble.

“We must support the aspirations of our Libyan brothers to be free and pursue their own happiness. We should do the same for the people of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen and so many other Arab states run by tyrants who would stop at nothing to remain in power – not even gunning down innocent people.”

However, he argued that “the superpowers” had only their own “selfish interest” in mind.

“Gaddafi is now being branded a tyrant. Who knows what he will be if he survives?”

Meanwhile, Alternattiva Demo­kratika welcomed Dr Gonzi’s condemnation of Col Gaddafi’s regime, even though it felt “it has been late in coming”.

Spokesman Arnold Cassola said history had always shown that trying to appease criminal political leaders never paid.

“The Maltese government and the Maltese PL opposition should have condemned Gaddafi the moment he started killing his own people and he and his son threatened to use their last bullet to shed Libyan blood. Criminal politicians in this state of mind resort to all kinds of unimaginable violence.”

AD Chairman Michael Briguglio said the party agreed with Dr Gonzi that Malta should work to see the region return to peace and stability as soon as possible, with the priority being international coordinated action for humanitarian aid such as food and medicine to the Libyan people.

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