The US embassy has refused to confirm or deny whether an American man seen verbally assaulting a Maltese driver in an online video is a member of staff.
The unidentified US citizen’s road rage became the subject of national shock and ridicule after a civilian video of the event went viral on social media last weekend.
Asked whether the man was a US diplomat or involved in any way with the embassy, the US officials refused to comment but later apologised for his actions.
When contacted by this newspaper, a spokeswoman for the embassy also declined to comment on the person’s designation.
Right now, you and me – get out of the car and we’ll go
The street argument seems to have been sparked when the two drivers came nose to nose along the narrow Mrabat Street in Sliema and neither gave way.
A video shot by Sliema resident Simon Good recorded the standoff and nearly 67,000 people had viewed the video by 8pm yesterday after it was uploaded on Saturday evening.
The unidentified US citizen is seen leaving his car and challenging the other driver, a Maltese man, to a fight out on the asphalt.
“Right now, you and me – get out of the car and we’ll go,” the unknown American said as he tugged on the vehicle’s door handle and stamped on the door.
He is later seen hurling a barrage of insults and vulgarities at the Maltese driver for several minutes before reaching into the car’s rear window in what appears to be a failed attempt to strike him.
Suspicions were raised about the mystery driver when it appeared that his vehicle, a Honda Odyssey people carrier, did not have front registration plates or a road licence disk. Instead an unidentifiable sticker is seen in the centre of the car’s windscreen.
The video ends with the US citizen deciding to reverse up the street allowing the Maltese driver to pass.
However, in an unexpected twist the enraged American then removes his T-shirt and chases the Maltese driver’s car down the rest of the busy street on foot.
The bottlenecked Mrabat Street serves as an arterial junction between Sliema and San Ġwann.
In 2011 residents had called for the road to be made one-way, claiming it was the cause of frequent traffic accidents and inconvenience.