Malta has drawn the attention of the Tunisian authorities to intensive searches of Maltese tourists on their departure from Tunisia. Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said this afternoon.

He was replying to a questioner on a radio programme who said that Maltese travellers were being harassed and treated as second-class citizens at the airport in Tunis when they were about to leave the country.

Dr Borg said there had been an alert over possible drug trafficking to Malta. While one appreciated security precautions when they were necessary, the measures the caller had complained about were only meant to be temporary, he said, and the Maltese authorities had raised the issue with their Tunisian counterparts.

He said the Maltese authorities would raise the issue again if the practice was continuing. He pointed out that this was not only an inconvenience to the Maltese, but, he was sure, it was not good for Tunisia as well, if it wanted more Maltese tourists to visit.