Two Libyan men from different tribes were today given an 18-month jail term suspended for three years after they admitted to injuring each other following an argument about the political situation in their county.

Sofyan Salem, 22, from Tripoli and Fathi Ahmed Al Gamudi, 29, from Misurata pleaded guilty to injuring each other during the fight that broke out in St Julians on August 9 at about 5.30am.

Lawyer Leon Bencini, who represented the accused together with lawyer Noel Bartolo, said this was an unfortunate incident brought about by the unfortunate political situation in their country.

He called on the court not to hand down an effective jail term as the men, who were both students in Malta, were first time offenders and had forgiven one another.

Magistrate Myriam Hayman heard how the fight was sparked by the ongoing civil war in Libya.

"It's not ideal that there is war in your country but you shouldn't bring it here," she said adding that it was unfortunate that people did not learn from history to treasure peace.

Police Inspector Elton Taliana prosecuted.