Joseph Cassar

Islamists in Tripoli and Misurata are not Islamic State terrorists and the internationally-recognised Libyan government is mistaken to lump them together, a former diplomat has warned.

Joseph Cassar, ambassador to Libya between 2005 and 2009, yesterday said a major hindrance to the formation of a national unity government was the Tobruk administration’s insistence that all Islamists were terrorists.

He said it was good that the UK, the US and the EU rejected the Tobruk government’s request at the UN on Wednesday to lift an arms embargo.

“Libya does not need more weapons but a national unity government that will counter the threat posed by Islamic State extremists,” he told RTK radio.

The Tobruk government considers the self-declared Islamist-leaning administration in Tripoli as a security threat much in the same way as IS. The Tripoli government rejects any linkage to IS and accuses the Tobruk government of being staffed with Gaddafi loyalists.

UN representative Bernardino Leon had been trying to get all sides together but progress has been slow, allowing IS to exploit the political vacuum.

Dr Cassar laid part of the blame for the current instability on a decision taken by Islamist lawmakers soon after Muammar Gaddafi was ousted to exclude from office anybody remotely connected to the deposed regime.

“This decision, which did not distinguish between corrupt officials and those who tried to do their work well, between those who gave orders and those who had to follow them, simply excluded individuals who could have contributed to stability in the post-Gaddafi era,” Dr Cassar said.

He noted there was no proper reconciliation as had happened in South Africa after the apartheid regime ended.

But he rejected statements often made in the Western world that Libyans may have been better off governed by a strongman like Gaddafi.

“I fear this argument is racist because it exposes a psyche that suggests Arabs are incapable of handling democracy... we find it difficult to accept that there are different shades of Islam just like there are different shades of Christianity,” Mr Cassar said.

During the same programme Prime Minister Joseph Muscat reiterated that Malta faced no particular threat. He said the security forces were being “more vigilant” because the situation dictated so but insisted there was no cause for alarm.

“We will speak to the people clearly if ever Malta faced a direct threat of any sort,” he said.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said the Opposition was supporting the government on the matter. He acknowledged people were preoccupied and insisted it was important their minds were put at rest.

“But there are things outside our control such as the infiltration of IS in Libya.

“The important thing is that we are fully prepared.”

There has been heightened public concern over a possible terror attack on Malta, possibly by IS extremists, ever since the Maltese-owned Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli was targeted on January 27.

This was fuelled by obscure internet reports that spoke of Malta being the target of IS militants ready to shower the island and Italy with missiles. The government said there was no intelligence to support the claim.

kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com