Islamic State militants have captured a passport facility in Libya, forcing the government to end an agreement allowing Libyan diplomatic passport holders to enter Malta without a visa.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday said the government had information that the facility was captured by IS when militants overran the coastal city of Sirte last month.
“This is a precautionary measure because in this way we will be checking everyone coming here from Libya,” Dr Muscat said when addressing supporters at the Labour Party Ħamrun club.
News of the temporary suspension of the diplomatic passport agreement comes on the back of widespread public concern over the spread of IS militants in Libya and the growing presence of Libyan families in Malta.
This was the second time in three days that the Prime Minister publicly addressed the fear that Malta may be under some imminent threat.
He had a prime time slot on Xarabank last Friday to specifically address the security issue.
Dr Muscat yesterday reiterated the security forces were being vigilant but insisted there was no cause for alarm.
“The government has no information of an imminent threat against Malta but we are being vigilant... the most important thing is to continue with our daily lives.”
On Friday Dr Muscat said security at strategic places had been beefed up over the past few weeks, emphasising this was a precautionary measure.
He also played down the fear that IS militants would use irregular migration as a channel to get terrorists to Malta.
“I will be the first to inform the country of any problems we may have,” he said, adding the Opposition was being kept abreast of developments.
Dr Muscat said Libya had effectively split in two after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi and the infighting allowed terrorist organisations like IS to infiltrate areas in this vast country. “There is no peace in the world without peace in the Mediterranean and it is our role to try and bring the two sides in the Libyan conflict together... we have to be the voice of common sense,” he said.
Last September a radical Libyan group that overran the eastern city of Derna pledged allegiance to IS.
However, the situation took a turn for the worse in January when IS claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack on the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli. IS militants later took the coastal city of Sirte and claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on key oil and government buildings across Libya.
The UN Security Council last month rejected a request by Egypt and the internationally-recognised Libyan government based in Tobruk for an arms embargo to be lifted. It opted to give UN Special Representative Bernardino Leon more time to try and broker an agreement between the Tobruk government and the self-declared Tripoli administration.
Egypt carried out a series of bombing raids in Libya targeting IS compounds after a video was circulated purporting to show the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians, who were kidnapped in Libya.
kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com