Malta had taken a major risk when it refused landing permission to a small jet which had flown to Malta with pilots to take back two Libyan jets whose pilots had defected to Malta, the prime minister said today.

Speaking this morning,Dr Gonzi referred to the return home of the two Libyan pilots who had defected to Malta on February 21 after refusing to bomb civilians. 

He said that the pilots were particularly thankful when the Maltese government refused landing permission to the small jet with eight people on board.

The government had quickly found that some of those passengers were actually  pilots in the Libyan air force and they were apparently coming to Malta to fly the Mirage F1 fights which the Libyan pilots had defected on.

Although the pilot of the small jet sought landing permission after claiming a fuel shortage, the request was still turned down.  

Dr Gonzi said that throughout the Libyan crisis, Malta was on the right side of history, despite difficult choices which had to be made. 

Asked about former Labour leader Alfred Sant’s claim that Malta’s campaign to join the European Union had been financed by Muammar Gaddafi, Dr Gonzi said Dr Sant had no credibility whatsoever.

Moreover, his claims did not even make sense.

Would Gaddafi help the Nationalist government take Malta in the EU when from day one his position had been that Malta was not European but Arab and should have joined the Arab world?

Gaddafi himself had told him, Dr Gonzi said, he was sorry that Malta had 'deceived its Arab brothers' through its EU membership

The Prime Minister said that Opposition leader Joseph Muscat had the duty to deny Dr Sant’s allegation and disassociate himself from it in the national interest.

Dr Gonzi then asked if Labour had ever received money from Gaddafi or any of his organisations?