The police have beefed up security around the Libyan embassy in Balzan to prevent trouble from rival factions over the appointment of a new ambassador.

The internationally recognised government, now based in the Eastern city of Tobruk, has appointed Al Habib Alamin as ambassador. He is due to enter the embassy today after having stayed in a hotel.

A rival Libyan government based in the capital Tripoli, nominated Hussein Musrati as the ambassador to Malta.

The police this morning closed off the side road leading to the embassy and were keeping a close watch over the area.

In a statement this afternoon, the government said it was discussing the situation with other EU and neighbour governments for a peaceful solution to be found.

Libyans in Malta, the government said, supported both the Tobruk and Tripoli governments, each of which had their own Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The government said that in the absence  of an ambassador, it had been acknowledging the charge d’affairs, who was not contested by any side, as Libya’s representative.

Subsequently, the Tripoli government informed the Maltese government they wanted the charges d’affairs replaced by a person of their confidence. In the meantime, the Tobruk Parliament requested the government not to acknowledge the Tripoli appointment but to acknowledge another person it was specifically sending over from Tobruk.

This, the government said, created a situation where the diplomat who represented the Tripoli government did not want to leave for the diplomat from Tobruk to take over.