A representative of the Libyan Transitional Council met Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday evening and thanked Malta for its support.

“We know what Malta is doing. We are grateful and we thank you. You are our neighbours and we will build our future together. We need you and your skills and we are proud of our friendship,” said former Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgam.

Mr Shalgam, who had publicly renounced Muammar Gaddafi’s regime during a high-profile speech at the UN in February, is now the council’s emissary to the UN.

It is not known whether he came to Malta to ask for the government to officially recognise the council – a step that has not yet been taken. However, the meeting took place in the wake of pressure by Maltese businessmen for the government to set up a representation office in the council’s stronghold of Benghazi.

Mr Shalgam told Dr Gonzi forces loyal to Col Gaddafi had killed 13,000 civilians and in Tripoli alone about 25,000 people were imprisoned. He said 350 cases of rape had also been recorded.

Dr Gonzi, who met Mr Shalgam in the presence of Foreign Minister Tonio Borg, reiterated Malta’s call for Col Gaddafi to step down and allow a peaceful transition. He said Malta had done its utmost in terms of humanitarian assistance and applied the UN sanctions to the letter.

“We are as close as possible to the Libyan people,” Dr Gonzi said.

Mr Shalgam said the Libyan people only wanted freedom but Col Gaddafi treated them like criminals, killing unarmed civilians.

He said defector Moussa Koussa, himself a Libyan Foreign Minister, told him Col Gaddafi had ordered him to get out of his office and “kill, destroy and rape the savages”, showing how “completely disconnected” he was. Mr Shalgam noted that other dictators in Tunisia and Egypt had stepped down after killing a fraction of those Col Gaddafi had killed.

“He knows he has no future. He is killing for revenge,” he said, appealing for Col Gaddafi to remove his tanks from the streets.