A group of 13 Maltese workers in Libya arrived in Malta on an evacuation flight today organised following yesterday’s attack on Corinthia’s Tripoli Hotel, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in Parliament today.

The Prime Minister was giving a statement about the attack, about which information was still unclear.

He said, however, that it did not seem to have been directed at Malta or Maltese interests.

He said that soon after the attack nine Maltese workers at the hotel were evacuated to a safe place while two remained on site because they were responsible for security.

Later, the 11 Corinthia workers and another 13 Maltese who were at Palm City were taken to a safer place and 13 were today brought to Malta on a special flight.

The 11 who stayed behind did so by choice and against the government’s advice which remained for Maltese not to visit Libya.

Dr Muscat said the number of victims and their nationality was not yet ascertained but the most recent figure was 14, including foreigners. It did not seem that there were any Maltese among the victims.

The victims included four crew members of a Libyan airline, most likely from Tajikistan, and a US national. It seemed the other victims were Libyans.

A minute's silence was observed in their memory on the call of Opposition leader Simon Busuttil.

Dr Muscat said that there were a number of versions about the motive and the government was not in a position to verify which was the correct one.

However, the three most likely versions were that this was an attack by the Islamic State to destabilise Libya, an attack to kill the Prime Minister of the unrecognised Tripoli government and an attack by Al Qaeda.

Dr Busuttil said the Opposition condemned the attack unreservedly and expressed solidarity with the families of the victims.

He said the Prime Minister yesterday kept him continuously informed of developments and this morning he attended a security committee meeting called by the Prime Minister.

The Opposition, Dr Busuttil said, supported the government in its work to ensure that Maltese people in Libya were protected as were Maltese business interests.

The Opposition, he said, encouraged the government to make the fight against terrorism a political priority, and promised the Opposition’s support.

The government, Dr Busuttil said, had taken all reasonable measures to ensure that the Maltese who were still in Libya returned as soon as possible.

The Opposition agreed that it was in the interests of the Maltese to return and he called on the government to put the necessary facilities at the disposal of those who wanted to do so without delay. Dr Busutttil said he knew the government was doing so.

He said nothing should be taken forgranted in the current international climate and the fight against terrorism should be given the  importance it deserved

Libya was currently in a state of anarchy and could become a nest of terrorist activities. This was in no one’s interest let alone Malta’s.

“Our interest should be that Libya finds peace as soon as possible,” he said.

He called on the government to double its efforts for Libya to be placed higher on the EU’s agenda.

The Prime Minister's statement in full can be read in the pdf link below.