Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today that although he had no inkling of any threats being made towards Malta, which was hosting two major world events this month, he had to make sure that the country, as well as its residents and guests were safe.

Speaking during an interview on One Radio, Dr Muscat said the Valletta Summit being held is Malta next week was the biggest meeting ever to be held in Malta and an enormous vote of confidence in the country.

The summit, he said, could be compared to when the US President Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met in Malta on the way to Yalta and the Bush and Gorbachev summit.

He said that 8,000 people were to be here for the Valletta Summit and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting a few days later and this was a big strain on the country’s infrastructure and security services.

Although he had no hint of any threats towards Malta, Dr Muscat said, he had to make sure that the country was safe.

 “I am not willing to take risks,” he said, adding that an agreement was reached with the British government for Malta’s security resources to be supplemented.”

He said the summit would provide Europe and Africa with the opportunity to face each other and be clear during the Valletta summit. It would be the first time this would happen and he was confident, Dr Muscat said, that the first steps would be made towards the achievement of concrete results.

The meeting, he said, would be followed by a meeting of the European Council, also in Malta. This council, he said, had not been held out of Brussels recently.

This confirmed the country’s organisational capabilities.

Asked about former health minister Joe Cassar’s resignation from Parliament, Dr Muscat said he had nothing to say about Dr Cassar. “I respect him and will leave it up to the people to judge him.”

Dr Cassar allegedly permitted works at his home to be paid for by businessman Joe Gaffarena. Mr Gaffarena allegedly paid €8,150 for the works including the construction of a staircase and garden landscaping. Dr Cassar was also allegedly given a car as a gift by Mr Gaffarena for his 18-year-old daughter. Dr Cassar said he had paid for the car by donating €1,000 to the PN.

Dr Muscat said, however, that he did not believe that the Opposition leader only learnt of the matter last week and said Simon Busuttil should come clean and say when he learnt about the matter.

He said that when stories first started to come out, Dr Busuttil said he believed Dr Cassar and he was being framed.

He continued to defend him and eventually sent for him last Sunday and in a statement later said he still believed him, the Dr Cassar was a man of integrity but he was accepting his resignation from spokesman for culture.

Two days later, Dr Cassar also resigned from Parliament.

This, Dr Muscat said, was done independently from Dr Busuttil, although the latter was trying to get credit for it.

Dr Muscat said that Dr Busuttil was in an incongruent situation with the case of Toni Bezzina, the case of former Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono and that of shadow minister Claudio Grech.

The difference between these and the case of Dr Cassar was that in the latter, the Opposition was caught red-handed, the Prime Minister said.