The chairman of Libya’s National Centrist Party, Ali Tarhouni, has thanked Malta for its “tremendous” help during a visit he paid to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi two years after clashes turned the North African country upside down.

Dr Tarhouni, who is also the former Finance and Oil Minister of the National Transitional Council and acted as the interim Prime Minister of Libya during the departure of Mahmoud Jibril, visited Dr Gonzi at Castille yesterday afternoon.

Dr Gonzi described his visit as a sign of the relationship born between Malta and Libya during the Libyan revolution.

The friendship, he said, found root when the two countries worked together to see how Libya could move on. Slowly but surely this relationship would continue to grow, the Prime Minister added.

Dr Tarhouni thanked Dr Gonzi and the people of Malta for their “tremendous” help.

“I hope friends will not forget each other because friends come when you need help.

“Malta has always had a good relationship with Libya but hopefully now, when things start to settle down, we’ll establish a strong strategy between the two countries,” he said.