Qatar will continue using Malta as a hub for humanitarian aid to Libya for as long as necessary, according to General Naser Alkaabi, a senior Qatari military official who heads his country’s aid mission for Libya in Malta.

Qatar has so far spent €1.5 million in Malta on humanitarian supplies and medical care for Libya and Libyan patients

“As long as the Libyan people need our help, we are willing to provide assistance from Malta. There is no target deadline, we will stay here for as long as necessary,” he tells The Times Business.

General Alkaabi, who is assisted in Malta by a number of Qatari military officers, says his country began its humanitarian assistance to Libya about five months ago when the Qatari chief of military staff came to Malta for talks with the Prime Minister and the Commander of the Armed Forces.

“The two sides agreed to cooperate in providing humanitarian assistance to Libya and since then we have been sending supplies over such as food, medicine and ambulances.

“We signed a contract with Salvo Grima Group to supply us with food and mineral water for our weekly shipment to Libya with humanitarian aid. We have sent 13 shipments since we started, consisting of 2,000 tons of food and two tons of medicine and ambulances.”

General Alkaabi says that at the start of the Libyan conflict Qatar also tried to help injured Libyans “but unfortunately due to a shortage of time we couldn’t do anything”. However, he explains, Malta’s Health Minister and the government of Qatar later signed an agreement for injured people and sick children to be brought over to Malta for treatment. The Qatari government even covered the costs of looking after the families of the Libyan patients in Malta.

“This was a very good agreement which started to be implemented about a month ago. A number of families have come over and a Qatari air force C-17 aircraft, which is an air ambulance, arrived a few days ago bringing 16 injured people.”

He says the government of Qatar greatly appreciates all the assistance given in Malta to the Libyan people.

“The Maltese government has been doing many things to help Libya; some of this has been done publicly, while some has been done behind the scenes. We have met the Prime Minister twice and he offered to do whatever he could to help us; in fact he set up an office at the OPM to specifically work with the Qatari team in providing assistance to Libya. This team is headed by Leonard Callus and assisted by Vanessa Frazier and Mikela Fenech Pace.

“The team at this office has been extremely helpful to us. We have also had a number of meetings with AFM Commander Martin Xuereb and other military officers which have proved very useful as well as with hospital and medical officials.”

General Alkaabi points out that the Qatari government funds the aid sent over to Libya, as well as the treatment of Libyan patients in Malta. “The aid is all paid for by the Qatari government and we have instructions to purchase all the supplies from the local market. Although some companies from other countries have told us they can provide us with certain items at a cheaper price, our government has instructed us to buy everything from Malta,” he says.

He is full of praise for Salvo Grima, the company he purchases his supplies from, and says the level of service provided is “highly professional”.

The General explains that Qatar has so far spent €1.5 million in Malta on humanitarian supplies and medical care for Libya and Libyan patients “and we are willing to spend more”, adding that Qatar is prepared to send doctors, nurses and medical equipment to Malta.

General Alkaabi says at the beginning of the conflict the only way to Misurata was through Malta, and initially Qatar helped that city because it suffered tremendously in the war. When Tripoli fell the Qataris started to send supplies over there and now they are thinking of sending aid to Sirte once it falls to the National Transitional Council.

Why has Qatar been so keen to support the Libyan revolution and to provide humanitarian aid to Libya?

“His Highness the Emir has said many times that there is no interest for Qatar in Libya but we are there to help the Libyan people as much as we can and to support the UN resolutions.

“We are a rich, small country which is far away from Libya so our only interest is to help the people of Libya,” he says, while acknowledging that Qatar’s international profile has been raised as a result of its Libyan aid effort.

He believes relations between Malta and Qatar can only be strengthened as a result of their Libyan co-operation.

“From the beginning we knew there existed a strong relationship between Qatar and Malta and this was evident when we met the Prime Minister who was keen on strengthening ties even further. I am looking forward to High Highness the Emir visiting Malta which can only boost the already good relationship between the two countries.”

General Alkaabi also has strong words of thanks and praise for the Igo-Aid Foundation, the foundation set up in Malta by Maltese and Libyan businessmen to help provide humanitarian aid to Libya.

“When we first came to Malta we did not know the market and we had to look for a ship to ferry supplies to Libya which was not easy as the insurance rate was very high. However we were provided with a ship by the Igo-Aid Foundation, for which we are very grateful.”

General Alkaabi, who has worked with the Qatari military chief of staff for the past five years, and who spent two years in London as a defence attaché at the Embassy of Qatar, says co-ordinating the provision of humanitarian aid to Libya is a new experience for him.

“We are military people, I myself have a naval background, and humanitarian aid is not our area of expertise, but military people can do everything. It’s a new area for us but it’s an excellent experience,” he says.

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