In Libya, Malta is siding with life - Foreign Minister

Malta cannot be neutral between life and death and in Libya’s case it is siding with life, the Foreign Minister said this morning.

Tonio Borg said Malta’s apprehension over the course of action to take in Libya was understandable because of the commercial ties and its geographic proximity.

He was speaking at the Mediterranean Diplomacy Forum organised by the Parliamentary Assembly Mediterranean and the University’s Mediterranean Academy for Diplomatic Studies.

Dr Borg defended Malta’s appeal for a ceasefire in Libya, insisting this did not mean retaining the status quo.

“It means that the killing of civilians has to stop so that discussions can take place. Even so the end of the Libyan regime remains inevitable,” he said.

He reiterated that the defection of Libyan Foreign Minister Mousa Kousa to London on Wednesday was very significant and possibly a sign that the regime was weakened.

In an obvious reference to the diplomatic wrangling over whether the rebels should be armed by the coalition and to what level air cover should be provided, Dr Borg said the UN resolution was open to interpretation.

Unlike the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, he added, in Libya the unrest did not start in the capital Tripoli but in Benghazi, where Gaddafi always faced resistance.

Dr Borg said the revolution had now degenerated into a civil war.

The minister said that whatever the outcome of the conflict, Libya will never return to the state it was before February 15, when the first wave of protests started.