Outgoing Libyan Ambassador Saadun Suayeh was encouraged to stay on after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi by the advice of Abdel Rahman Shalgam, the Libyan UN ambassador who had defected early in the conflict last year.

Dr Suayeh revealed the behind-the-scenes information during a farewell visit he paid on Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi at Castille yesterday. The ambassador will soon vacate his position for health and family reasons.

His decision to remain in the ambassadorial hot seat may have been misunderstood by some, but Dr Suayeh told Dr Gonzi he was sure the subtext of his actions “was understood by the people that count in Maltese politics”.

Dr Suayeh saluted the Prime Minister for his support of the Libyan people, saying Dr Gonzi’s declaration last April that “Gaddafi must go” had “impressed and touched him”.

Dr Gonzi reminisced on the “difficult and challenging moments” the two men had shared.

He thanked Dr Suayeh for his professionalism and help in coordinating Malta’s humanitarian mission to Libya throughout the civil war there, and said he appreciated the fact Dr Suayeh had served as an ambassador to the Libyan people rather than its government.

“A new chapter has begun for Maltese-Libyan relations, and you have written the first page,” Dr Gonzi told the outgoing ambassador.

The Prime Minister said he looked forward to welcoming Dr Suayeh’s successor, “hopefully in the short-term”.