A Libyan man standing trial for the murder of a hairstylist four years ago yesterday told jurors he had stabbed the man in self-defence but did not intend to kill him.

"When I stabbed Alfie (Rizzo) I didn`t intend to kill him. I was trying to defend myself. I don`t remember how many times I stabbed him and I don`t know whether he was dead or alive when I left his hair salon," Aimen Said Giali El-Baden said.

El-Baden, 21, was testifying before Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono in his trial by jury.

He is pleading not guilty to murdering Rizzo at Alfie`s Salon in Sliema Road, Gzira, on February 4, 1998, at about 9.30 p.m.

He is also accused of stealing Lm30 and carrying a knife without a licence.

El-Baden said he had come to Malta during his school holidays in November 1997 and planned to stay until February 1998. He had come to Malta before but only stayed for a day or two.

The school he went to was one for wealthy people`s children and even Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi`s children went there. He explained that his parents owned three shops around Libya.

When he arrived in Malta in 1997 he lived with his cousin in Bugibba but moved out after some time because his cousin was too "strict". He went to live with his friend, whom he referred to as Walid, in Qawra for three to four weeks.

He then moved to a Sliema apartment where he stayed for about six days before he was arrested and taken to Ta` Kandja but he was released after he showed his passport to the police.

El-Baden explained that while he was living with Walid a group of Benghazi men broke into their apartment and stole their clothes.

The day before Rizzo was killed the accused and his friends - Ibrahim Ramadan Ghamber Shnishah, Tarek Alfadran, Ali Mohammed Said and a certain Fethi - caught two of the Benghazi men and beat them up after one of them admitted to stealing the clothes.

El-Baden`s lawyer, Dr Joseph Mifsud, asked what happened on the day of the murder.

"That morning I remained asleep till about 1 p.m. and Ahmed (Rajid Shafi) and Tarek came to the Naxxar apartment, where I was asleep, and asked me to have lunch with them. So I showered and went.

"That day I wore jeans, a sweater, a denim jacket and trainers," he said.

"After lunch, at about 5.30 p.m., we went to Valletta and there I met Walid who told me that the two Benghazi men we had fought with the day before were picking an argument.

"While I was talking to Walid near the fountain a group of Benghazi men started a fight with us. We ran away when the police came. After some time they picked another fight and the police intervened a second time. That was the end of the fight," he said.

Later on that day, Walid warned El-Baden that the Benghazi men were going to look for him and his friends in Sliema.

"Walid gave me a pen knife to defend myself from the Benghazi men. I then caught the bus to Sliema to warn my friends.

"On my way to inform my friends about the men, I met Ibrahim (Ramadan Ghamber Shnishah) next to the Black Gold Saloon and I asked him to lend me Lm20. I told him that I would pay him back the next day.

"But Ibrahim told me that he didn`t have money and started trying to persuade me to go with that man."

At this point El-Baden asked the judge to clear the courtroom because he wished to testify behind closed doors. The public was asked to leave.

When the public was allowed back into the courtroom, El-Baden explained how he was arrested from the Naxxar apartment, in connection with Rizzo`s murder. He was taken to the police headquarters at about 10 p.m. and later that evening was taken to the Valletta lock-up.

"The next morning Inspector Mario Bonnici came for me at the lock-up and asked me to show him my left hand. When I did he called me a murderer and then took me to the headquarters were several police officers were waiting.

"At the headquarters was also the white-haired man who testified that he found Alfie`s body. (Assistant Commissioner) Michael Cassar and (Superintendent Bertu) Mula were good to me - I`m being honest.

"But Inspector Bonnici told me that if I didn`t tell him what happened he would kill me there and then. He was not nice to me.

"At the headquarters I was told to remove all my clothes, except for my underpants, and wear a suit that was made of a paper-like material. It was February and I felt cold. I was bare footed.

"Blood samples and a cast of my teeth were taken. They even examined my body. Then Mr Cassar and Inspector Bonnici questioned me but I didn`t know much Maltese then and I couldn`t read Maltese.

"Later on, Inspector Carmelo Magri came to speak to me. He treated me like a brother and asked me about the case. He told me he would help me if I spoke up. I burst into tears and told him I had killed him," he testified.

Inspector Magri was called into the courtroom and he denied telling El-Baden he would help him. The same happened in the case of Inspector Bonnici who denied telling the accused he would be killed and also denied calling him a murderer.

Supt. Mula, Mr Cassar and Inspector Mario Spiteri were also called in and they denied hearing their colleagues say any of the words alleged by the accused.

El-Baden also said that after releasing the statement to the police it was not read out to him. The five police officers were called into the courtroom and in his presence maintained that the statement was read out to El-Baden.

Dr Mifsud read out the two statements that his client released in the presence of Mr Cassar, Supt. Mula and Inspectors Bonnici and Spiteri.

El-Baden explained that when he released the statement he was physically exhausted and, although parts of the statement were true, certain parts were not.

He confirmed the part of the statement where he admitted stabbing Rizzo but denied searching the salon for money.

He explained how he had removed his blood-stained trousers and wore Rizzo`s before leaving the salon and how he washed his blood-stained hands in a sink at the salon.

The blue denim jeans found on the scene of the crime were shown to him and he recognised them as being his.

"Those are my Big Star jeans. They are small because I was smaller then. Today they wouldn`t fit me because I grew up. I grew up while I was in prison."

He was asked to hold the jeans against him and align the waistline with his. The jeans were a couple of inches too short.

A sweater the police found in the sea in Gzira was also shown to him and he recognised it as the sweater he wore the day he had stabbed Rizzo.

He also confirmed the part of the statement where he said he had met Rizzo while he was with Ibrahim (Ramadan Ghamber Shnishah) in Sliema but said that it was not true that Rizzo asked him to get into his Mercedes.

On the day of the murder, he was walking along the front with Ibrahim, Rizzo pulled up next to them and Ibrahim went to speak to him. El-Baden then got into Rizzo`s car and they drove to the hair salon, he explained.

El-Baden explained how soon after Rizzo`s murder he met Ibrahim outside a Sliema bar and told him: "It is all your fault. You ruined my life."

He told him what happened and Ibrahim and himself went near the sea in Gzira and Ibrahim threw his (El-Baden`s) blood-stained sweater into the water.

El-Baden then threw into the sea the contents of Rizzo`s trousers and the pen-knife he had stabbed Rizzo with. He said the pen-knife had a lot of blood on it. He had no other knives besides the pen knife Walid gave him.

El-Baden denied the part of the statement where he said that Ibrahim had told him to kill Rizzo and steal his money.

"When I released the statement I initially blamed Ibrahim to get out of the situation. He did not tell me to kill Alfie but, till today, I blame him for what happened because he pushed me to go with Alfie."

He testified that after releasing the statements he had been driven to the lock-up and he had told the driver he felt at peace after confessing to having killed a man.

The evidence El-Baden gave before the Magistrates` Court was also read out to him.

"When I released the statements to police I was under pressure and not everything written there is the truth. When I testified before the magistrate I lied. I was only 17. That day I was very scared. They thought I had killed him for the money and that was not true," he said.

He explained that he stabbed Rizzo in self-defence but did not intent to kill him. "I didn`t call the ambulance because I was scared that I`d be blamed," he said.

El-Baden said that Rizzo bit his finger towards the beginning of the struggle. Under cross-examination he also said he had bitten Rizzo`s arm.

The accused explained that he acted in self-defence to unwanted and unexpected sexual advances. He had gone with Rizzo to the salon expecting one thing but, once there, Rizzo wanted more.

Before he left the witness stand, El-Baden was asked if he was honest in his testimony before the jurors. To this he answered: "Today I`m being very honest. I`m sure of that."

Dr Mifsud started addressing jurors yesterday evening after El-Baden`s eight-hour long testimony. He reminded them they were the judges of the facts and should not allow their judgment to be swayed by prejudice. He also warned them against jumping to conclusions.

He told them it was the prosecution that had to prove the accused`s guilt, beyond reasonable doubt. The accused was presumed to be innocent and therefore had nothing to prove.

Dr Mifsud also told jurors that not all that seemed odd was untrue. A person might change his version of the events or might do things that seemed insane for several valid reasons.

The trial continues this morning.

Assistant Attorney General Dr Anthony Barbara is prosecuting.

Dr Mifsud is appearing for El-Baden.