A decision will be taken next month over whether Libya will be invited to the 5+5 summit meeting in Malta, Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said today.
France and Italy, two countries forming the 5+5 group of Western Mediterranean and Arab councils, have withdrawn recognition of the Gaddafi government and have recognised the Benghazi based Transitional Council instead.
Asked at a press conference this afternoon if and when Malta would recognise the council, Dr Borg said that diplomatic recognition of the council would depend on the control it has on Libyan territory, Malta's interests and the position of the European Union.
He noted that so far, only three countries have officially recognised the Council, France, Italy and Qatar.
The situation, he said, could change.
He stressed that recognition was not a question of whether a country agreed or not with a regime. For example, he explained, no one supported Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe but the administration was still recognised.
Malta, he said, was reiterating its position that Col Gaddafi and his family should stand down and that all soldiers should return to their barracks.
Dr Borg said that at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg this week, he met the representatives of the council.
During the EU meeting, a representative of the Transitional Council, Mahmoud Jibril, spoke about the current situation while insisting that the council was not leading a rebellion but a popular revolution.
Referring to yesterday's meeting of the Libya Contact Group in Qatar, Dr Borg said all agreed that Libya should have an immediate ceasefire followed by regime change.
Dr Borg said the decision over whether Libya would be invited for the 5+5 summit meeting in Malta would be taken on May 3 in Rome. The 5+5 meeting, is due to be held in June.
Dr Borg said it was difficult to see how Libya could be invited, but one had to await developments before a collective decision was taken.
Referring to yesterday's meeting of the Libya Contact Group in Qatar, which was held yesterday, Dr Borg said all agreed that Libya should have an immediate ceasefire followed by regime change.
Dr Borg said Air Malta's mercy flights to ferry workers trapped on the Libya-Tunisia border had cost €200,000, which were borne by the government.
In other comments, Dr Borg gave an overview of the activities of his ministry over the past year.
He also announced that Kuwait is to open an embassy in Malta.
Following the opening of Malta's new embassy in Poland, the minister said there were no immediate plans for the opening of other embassies, but said that the ministry is working on the model adopted in Dubai where the representative of Malta Enterprise also served as Consul. This would apply particularly for South America.