The Libyan ambassador, Saadun Suayeh, this morning spoke of his joy and relief that liberation had come to Libya, while again voicing his concerns about fears of retaliation against him or his daughter in Tripoli over the past six months.

"I would have preferred a Martin Luther King style revolution but he (Gaddafi)  forced it on us" the ambassador said in comments after Eid celebrations at the Libyan embassy.

He hoped that negotiations to end the conflict would be successful, averting further fighting in Sirte and other towns still held by Gaddafi loyalists.

The ambassador said he had worked hard behind the scenes to help the revolution while keeping an open channel with the (Gaddafi) government in Tripoli once Malta had still not yet recognised the rebel National Transitional Council.

He had been worried for himself and other people, including his daughter, who was in Libya, he said, and had been careful how to speak. Some people had misunderstood him, he said, but he had largely enjoyed the confidence of the Libyan community in Malta.

He was pleased, he said, that through his efforts and those of the governemnt of Malta, no oil shipments had been made from Maltese waters to the Gaddafi forces. 

The coming weeks, he said, would be about practicalities not politics - making sure that humanitarian aid would reach its destination, but he would help cement the good relations between Malta and the new Libya.

(See video above).