A group of about 25 Libyans protesters gathered near the oil storage tanks at Malta Freeport yesterday afternoon, claiming arrangements had been made for a Maltese registered tanker to carry a consignment of fuel to Libya.

Police Inspector Priscilla Caruana said the tanker, Mubariz Ibrahimov, which belongs to the Palmali Group, departed from Russia and was probably scheduled to head back empty to the Black Sea.

But the protesters insisted they saw the vessel being refuelled and one of them, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he even had footage of the vessel.

Lawyer Louisanne Pulis last night filed an urgent request in court to stop the vessel from leaving.

The court postponed a decision by 24 hours, asking for legal clarifications and to give the Attorney General time to respond. However, the ship owners yesterday evening offerred to give protesters assurances that the vessel would not sail to Libya.

Sources said Libyans in Malta were alerted to the vessel by the rebel authority that has been set up in Benghazi.

The London-based Libyan Youth Movement echoed claims by the protesters that Yahia Ibrahim Gaddafi, senior official of a Libyan state-owned oil company, was in Malta seeking $5 million worth of fuel to be shipped to Libya.

Mr Gaddafi, they insisted, had held discussions on Wednesday with a representative from Tamoil, an oil group partly owned by the Libyan Investment Authority.

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi have reportedly suffered fuel shortages after rebels captured the oil rich east of the country, including many storage tanks.

They insisted they could not be assured the vessel was not carrying the fuel, adding thousands of lives would be saved if it was not allowed to set sail. If it sailed to Libya, the opposition in Benghazi was ready to open fire on it, they said.

Earlier this week, rebels seized the oil tanker Anwar Afriqiya, which allegedly belongs to Hannibal Gaddafi, carrying 25,000 tons of fuel en route from Greece to Tripoli.

The Maltese authorities had promised their support but they did nothing of what they said, an agitated protester said. He added: “We will remember all of this. We’ll remember who helped us out and are ready to give him our own heart but we will never forget those who put spokes in our wheels.”

The protesters recounted how Tariq Shadi, whom they had initially thought was Sabri Tariq, chairman of Afriqiyah Airways, allegedly bought hundreds of vehicles for mercenaries, after he was allowed to leave Malta late last month.

“We’re made of flesh and blood,” one of them screamed with tears in his eyes. “My relatives are being slaughtered, my friends have disappeared. Our colleagues who left Malta when this turmoil erupted to go back to their families have never been heard of again,” he added, waving his hands in despair.

“Muammar Gaddafi is crazy. We now fear for our lives. His men could find us even in Malta,” a man donning a cap with a Libyan flag said.

He begged the Maltese authorities to implement security measures and monitor all those who set foot on the island in the coming days.

The protester insisted he would set himself on fire in front of Castille (the Prime Minister’s office). “We, the opposition, are tomorrow’s government and if Malta helps us now we will support it in the future,” he said.

The protesters said things were “very fishy” because the part where the tanker Mubariz Ibrahimov was docked, to the right of Terminal 1, and which was usually open, was yesterday inaccessible.