Updated: The Opposition today criticised the Foreign Ministry for not taking any action against a former diplomat who, according to British documents, had handed information to the UK in 1971 when he served in Tripoli.

Helena Dalli, Opposition spokesman on the Public Service, referred to documents released by the British Records Office which mentioned Maltese diplomat Ives de Barro.

She said the Permanent Secretary at the Maltese Foreign Ministry in a report tabled in Parliament last week admitted that Mr de Barro had given the UK government sensitive information, but said that the revelation of this information was 'unfortunate' and 'could have been avoided".

Dr Dalli said the PL condemned the superficial way how the government had tackled this serious case, more so since Mr De Barro remained a Foreign Ministry employee until last August.

Mr De Barro has always denied the claims made against him.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry in a reaction to Dr Dalli's statement, said the issue had been tackled seriously by the ministry, even though Mr de Barro was no longer an employee.

The information given in the British records did not show that Mr deBarro had regular meetings with UK embassy staff. To say that Mr deBarro was spying for the British government was not correct.

The information showed that with the British officials, Mr de Barro was only expressing personal opinions on the current situation, which did not involve sensitive information.