The Italian Ambassador yesterday met Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg to express his country’s grievance with Malta over Saturday’s controversial rescue of a boat laden with African migrants. No official statement was issued after the meeting but a ministry spokesman said Ambassador Luigi Marras stated his country’s case while stopping short of presenting an official note of protest.

“The ambassador presented Italy’s arguments and the minister presented Malta’s case and gave an account of what happened,” the spokesman said.

Italian news agency Ansa reported on Sunday evening that Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini had instructed the Italian Ambassador to Malta to file a protest over what the Italians claim was the island’s failure to rescue migrants off Lampedusa over the weekend. The government has insisted Malta acted completely in line with its obligations when a boat carrying some 600 migrants fleeing Libya was located 42 miles off Lampedusa and 109 miles off Malta.

Rome notified Malta about the boat and the Armed Forces of Malta managed to establish contact with the migrants via satellite phone. An army patrol boat and aircraft were dispatched to locate the boat. Migrants had said the boat was taking in water but they went on their way northward towards Lampedusa.

The migrants were eventually rescued by Italian boats just 19 miles from Lampedusa amid criticism that Malta had “ignored” the call for help.