Malta will support ‘every effort’ to help Libyan people – Gonzi

Malta will support “every effort” to ensure the Libyan people get the stability and freedom they deserve, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.

“The Gaddafi regime has lost its legitimacy. A regime loses its legitimacy when it starts shooting on its own people when they are trying to express their freedoms,” Dr Gonzi said.

He added, however, that Malta would maintain its neutral status and respect its constitutional obligations.

The Prime Minister also denied being lobbied to provide military facilities should there be international intervention.

“Absolutely not,” he said, when asked whether European leaders were lobbying for Malta’s support in terms of a military operation.

Malta yesterday welcomed both the British and Canadian defence ministers who said they came to extend their gratitude to the government for help in the evacuation of their nationals from Libya.

Speaking during and between meetings, Dr Gonzi said the international community had to work very hard for a change of government in Libya “as quickly as possible”.

However, he stressed that a summit bringing together the European, Arab and possibly African countries to form a common position would put “extreme psychological pressure” on Muammar Gaddafi’s regime to step down.

Dr Gonzi said the EU had taken up the proposal to organise this summit, which would include the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League and possibly the African Union, and he hoped this would become a reality “soon”.

“The message is this: we want to be close to the Libyan people. This is not about anybody imposing anything on anyone... We should accompany the Libyan people, be shoulder to shoulder with them and allow them to make their own choices.”

However, Dr Gonzi also said the military aspects had to be studied carefully by “the competent authorities”.

“The options are being examined and everything is on the table. As far as Malta is concerned, we are a neutral country with constitutional responsibility, but we have always been at the forefront of humanitarian aspects.”

The Arab League yesterday came out in support of plans to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and contact with anti-Gaddafi rebels, diplomats said at crisis talks in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

The 22-member pan-Arab organisation also agreed to make contacts with the national council set up by rebels opposed to the Gaddafi regime in their eastern stronghold of Benghazi.

UK defence secretary Liam Fox said his country was extremely grateful for Malta’s hospitality and had full respect for the island’s constitutional “sensitivities” in relation to military operations.

The UK, he said, did not take advantage of the island’s hospitality and the government set “very clear guidelines” which were respected at all times.

“Malta has won many friends and its prestige has been enhanced,” Mr Fox said about the island’s increased international profile throughout this crisis.

ButMr Fox refused to guarantee any help in terms of an immigration influx, saying only that the UK’s priority was not to hypothesise on the possible scenarios but actively seek to prevent a situation where Libyans need to flee their country.

“We need to isolate Mr Gaddafi’s regime and hasten its demise to ensure prosperity. Any other message will give comfort to the regime.”

However, he conceded that the Libyan crisis was far from being resolved and said no one was under any illusions regarding the difficulty of the task of rebuilding Libya seeing as Mr Gaddafi had “systematically removed the architecture of the state”.

Canada’s defence minister Patrick Mackay praised Malta’s “outstanding” efforts to help in the evacuation of nationals from all over the world.

He said Dr Gonzi’s assessment of the situation was highly valuable to the international community due to Malta’s historic knowledge of Libya. Having come back from discussions within Nato, Mr Mackay said the international community was seeking to support the Libyan people.

He said the Arab league – which had been “forward-leaning” on this issue – had to be encouraged to be more proactive so that the rest of the international community could support them.