Former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi this morning urged Libyans in Malta to support Malta's efforts to bring unity between the two factions in the North African country.
Speaking at a conference called Libya, an Unfinished Revolution, he said days after the fourth anniversary of Libya's February 17 revolution, he would have been "more satisfied" to meet to celebrate the benefits reaped after the ousting of Gaddafi, but sadly that was not the case.
Divisions between those who were once united against the regime had grown deeper, with extremists profiting from this conflict.
"This is a difficult time for the Libyan people and our hearts go out to them," he said, noting that most Libyans prefered to live in peace, go to school and earn a decent living.
"Do we turn a blind eye to all of this?... Worse still, do we surrender to those who insist that Libya can survive under dictatorship," he asked.
The international community, especially the EU must continue to believe that Libya and its people are able to solve their differences and turn their dreams that kicked off the revolution into reality, he said.
Dr Gonzi said the will and aspirations for freedom, democracy and rule of law should remain even when terrorists and violence threatened the lives of the majority of peace loving citizens.
"I continue to hope that the competing factions understand this is the time to unite against anything threatening dignity and human rights," he said, urging Libyans in Malta to embrace the Maltese effort to bring unity instead of division. UN's special envoy Bernardino Leon's mission deserved everyone's support. The UN's efforts, he added, depended on the disposition of all parties to compromise.
The greatest concern, he added, remained the welfare of Libyan people themselves, referring to recent shocking events including the beheading of 21 Christian Coptics.
These events, together with the issues of migration and the displacement of people within Libya imposed an urgent need on those representing Libyans to work on the building of strong constitutional institutions to fight criminality and lawlessness.
Dr Gonzi said he was not speaking about a dream that was impossible. Europe had its own history of conflict and should share its war experience.