Libyans will remain eternally grateful for Malta’s contribution in their fight for freedom particularly when the island gave protection to two fighter jets which defected, Mahmoud Jibril said yesterday.

Dr Jibril, who led Libya for seven-and-a-half months as the head of the National Transitional Council, was speaking during a visit to the PN headquarters in Pieta.

He is now the leader of the National Forces Alliance, a coalition which gathers a number of Libyan political parties that favour civil democracy with laws based on a modern interpretation of Islam.

Dr Jibril met PN general secretary Paul Borg Olivier, who was accompanied by party president Marthese Portelli and international secretary John Bonello. He thanked the PN for the opportunity it provided the Libyan alliance to share ideas with a party whose history was among the longest in the region.

Tomorrow he will be addressing the EPP bureau meeting in Malta.