As the Libyan crisis was taken to a dramatic new level with military intervention by the West and Malta re-stated its neutrality with a refusal to serve as a military base, Sarah Carabott got the perspective of Libyans who oppose Gaddafi’s regime.

The Libyan opposition understands that Malta’s location puts it in a precarious position, according to Muftah Lamlum, the general secretary of the Libyan National Movement.

Muammar Gaddafi could easily take revenge on Malta, he said in reference to the island’s “neutral” stance as Western planes flew over Libya to disable military equipment with the stated aim of protecting civilians.

However, Malta was running the risk of burning bridges with the future Libyan government before even building them, had it maintained a “weak” response to the violence committed by Gaddafi’s regime against its people, he added.

At the end of last week, Malta was termed “a coward” and described as “standing on a fence” by commentators on social media.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi again insisted that the government, which was acting in the interest of the island’s security, had from the beginning of the uprising condemned the Gaddafi regime for shooting and killing civilians.

“While we cannot ask the island to take part in our fight, we don’t want Malta to be Gaddafi’s back door through which he’d be able to breach embargoes imposed on him,” Mr Lamlum said.

“Gaddafi would need weapons and fuel for his own troops and it’s easy to transport goods between Malta and Libya especially on fishing vessels which would not attract the attention of the allies’ navy. Malta has got to be very cautious,” he said.

The Prime Minister has also been categorical in stating that Malta is fulfilling all UN-sanctioned embargoes against the Libyan regime.

Going by Col Gaddafi’s speech early on Sunday morning after Saturday’s air strikes, Mr Lamlum said the Libyan leader was “definitely” not in Tripoli as he had spoken over the phone.

“He has done similar disappearing acts before. If he were in Bab al-Aziziya, from where the broadcasting TV station is controlled, he would have made use of his recording studio as he usually does. Gaddafi is a coward trying to declare war with empty threats.”

He said that although international military intervention was welcome, Libyans did not want foreign troops on Libyan soil. “We have started this battle and we will end it. The rebels are now stronger than ever because they have had more than a month’s worth of training against Gaddafi’s men.”

This was echoed by a student from the Libyan Youth Movement, who goes only by the name of Mohamed for fear of reprisals. Admitting that foreign intervention was “absolutely necessary,” he expressed his disappointment over the phone.

“It hurts that it had to reach a point where foreign countries are attacking Libya but we have no other choice,” he said, adding that civilian casualties would be inevitable during such international military intervention. However, their number would be far lower than the number of people Gaddafi’s troops had already killed.

The young student insisted that if foreign troops landed in the North African country, Libya would turn into “another Iraq”.

Mohamed Abdalla from the Libyan Solidarity Movement made the same point. He said the landing of foreign troops in Libya would be an open invitation for extremists like Al Qaeda to fight foreign troops on Libyan soil. The North African country, Dr Abdalla added, would turn into a theatre for a fight between two foreign entities.

He added this international intervention was not based on humanitarian grounds but on cost-versus-benefit grounds.

“The international community finally realised Col Gaddafi was a threat to the whole world.

“Had he been a threat to the country’s people, they would not have waited for 42 years,” Dr Abdalla said. Commending the international community’s aid, he said foreigners were already taking credit for what Libyans have been doing for the past month.

“Gaddafi is a losing bet. You can never bet on dictatorship. Eastern Europe, Tunisia and Egypt were proof of this. The Libyan opposition is already assessing its foreign support throughout this turmoil.” he said.

Libyans, he added, had an ingrained “culture of loyalty”.

“In Benghazi, we’re flying the French flag together with the Libyan one. When Gaddafi falls, I assure you France would benefit hugely,” Dr Abdalla insisted.

French companies, like Alcatel, were gaining ground in Libya, and had already started business negotiations in Benghazi, he said.

In the meantime, people in Misratah told The Times they have seen members of Col Gaddafi’s regime load Libyan corpses into vans. These were allegedly stored, and would be dispersed on the ground once international forces bombed the area, to be used as “evidence” against the international community.

This was confirmed by Mr Lamlum who said Col Gaddafi had ordered the refrigeration of bodies which would later be scattered at the international allies’ military targets in Libya.

Sources on the ground also confirmed reports that Gaddafi’s troops were yesterday afternoon heavily shelling and bombing Misratah, “because the dictator wanted to teach his people a lesson.”

“Col Gaddafi should have been asked to star as the Joker in the Dark Knight. No one could have played the cruel Joker’s part better than the Libyan dictator. Our only problem is that Libyans don’t have a Batman to save them,” Dr Abdalla said.

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