Probe finds no proof of airport security breach

There was no evidence a Sri Lankan man caught with two knives on his arrival in Rome in December was carrying them when he passed through Malta International Airport, the government said.

Italy’s police had reported that, on Christmas Eve, the 37-year-old, travelling aboard an Air Malta flight with two co-nationals en route to Doha in Qatar, was stopped at Fiumicino while carrying two knives in his trouser pockets along with a screwdriver.

Terrorism had been ruled out at that stage.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs said the Office of the Manager of Airport Security (Omas) investigated the incident and found no evidence proving “the passenger in question was carrying the knives on his person or his cabin baggage when passing through the security screening at Malta International Airport”.

However, “without prejudice to the outcome of the investigation”, Omas made a number of recommendations to further improve security screening at MIA as part of its routine review of safety procedures. The recommendations were implemented by MIA, the spokesman said.

Civil aviation industry sources said it was difficult to trace where the knives had originated from because the flight in question had made a stopover in Reggio Calabria, where people were taken aboard.

The Maltese airport was not accountable for what happened in other airports.