Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told a press conference this evening that the Libya crisis was entering a sensitive and delicate phase which may see an escalation with regard to the victims of violence.

This, he said, could see new humanitarian requirements from Malta.

"Malta remains close to the Libyan people and their aspirations", Dr Gonzi said.

He said that up to this evening Malta had concentrated its efforts on evacuation and 178 Maltese had been rescued, Another 33 were currently on their way to Malta.

It a appeared that there were 53 Maltese still in Libya, of whom 30 wanted to return and efforts were being made to repatriate them. The rest did not wish to return

The number of foreigners brought to Malta was almost 8,000 and this was expected to increase sharply in the coming days. They were nationals of 89 countries.

Visa and other requirements had been waived or reduced for greater efficiency.

Dr Gonzi thanked all Maltese departments and volunteers involved in the ongoing operation.

THE SITUATION IS 'VERY CRITICAL'

Dr Gonzi said the situation was very critical and could get more serious in the coming hours and days. Malta had to be prepared to receive thousands more people and Malta had to be prepared to give them medical and any other help.

He said the two Libyan pilots who had defected were awaiting a decision on their request for asylum. A request by Libya for the aircraft to be return had not been upheld and the aircraft were still here.

Malta, he said, would immediately abide by the UN sanctions agreed by the Security Council last night.

He said that violence should not deny the people of Libya their legitimate aspirations and the end of the Gaddafi government was therefore inevitable. Unless that happened there would be more innocent victims.

Malta wanted to see this region return to peace and stability as soon as possible, but the priority now was international coordinated action for humanitarian aid such as food and medicine to the Libyan people. Malta would do its duty in this regard.

MILITARY INVOLVEMENT

Dr Gonzi said Malta was not preparing itself as a military base and the requests it had received were only for humanitarian missions, which had brought back Maltese workers and not just foreigners. No requests for purely military operations were made.

MALTESE EMBASSY IN TRIPOLI

Dr Gonzi praised the Maltese embassy staff in Tripoli. He said that as security deteriorated, the government had decided that the ambassador should return but the embassy would remain open. It is being manned by two officials with instructions of what to do from an alternative site if the embassy was made to close. These officials would also be repatriated if necessary.

CONVERSATION WITH DAVID CAMERON

Dr Gonzi said he had a conversation with Prime Minister Cameron on Thursday on humanitarian missions to rescue workers in Libya.

On the Libyan plane that was denied landing permission, he said permission was denied because no flight plan was filed. He said the information the government had was that the plane carried pilots to fly the Libyan Mirages back to Libya.

On Air Malta, Dr Gonzi said the government and the airline were constantly considering whether or not more flights should be operated to Libya, depending on security considerations.