The Libyan Embassy in Malta has denied a story in today's it-Torca about an alleged missile attack by Libya against Malta as the source of the explosion heard in Dingli on June 12 saying it was completely "baseless and false".

The story led the Prime Minister to launch a fierce attack against the PL media this morning and a statement from the government was issued later today accusing the newspaper of being "irresponsible" and endangering jobs and investment.

The embassy said:

"Libya never fired on that date missiles against Malta or any other country.  Air space is fully controlled by Nato which could verify such planes.

"The Libyan Embassy seizes this opportunity to reassure the Maltese government and the friendly people of Malta of Libya’s continued respect for the integrity of Maltese territories and appreciation of Malta’s assistance to Libyan people."

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this morning said the story was "a conscious attempt of the worst kind of journalism by the Labour Party".

Speaking during an interview on Radio 101, he referred to the article in the General Workers' Union weekly it-Torca, a newspaper which, he said, represented the Labour Party, and said the PL was now breaching all the limits of decency causing major damage for the country.

In its story, it-Torca said sources close to Castille had confirmed to the newspaper that the mysterious explosion which had been heard in Dingli had been a missile fired from Libya towards Rome.

The missile, the newspaper said, had been directed at Malta.

In a statement in the afternoon, it-Torca said it stood by its story, which was the third it had carried on the matter

In its story, the newspaper said that the explosion was just after the Maltese government recognised the rebel council as the country's sole interlocutor.

"This is all lies and ridicule and I challenge it-Torca and Joseph Muscat. Such rubbish is unacceptable and we have to draw the line. This is journalism based on outright lies and the issue has now been taken too far.

"This is a very delicate issue and the situation can be highly damaging," he said.

it-Torca stands by its story

In a statement it-Torca stood by its story which, it said, was the third it had carried about the incident.

It said that rather than play a political game to gain partisan advantage, the Prime Minister should have answered the questions raised in the story, especially on the nature of the visit of Nato Commander Stavridis to Malta.

“While opting to insult us - something that will not stop up from carrying on with our duties - the Prime Minister did not give just one fact to show our story as a lie.”

Rather than dialogue with the media, the Prime Minister was opting to try to destroy the credibility of those who did not conform with his policy with hysterical attacks which did not lead anywhere.

Such behavior did not augur well for the democratic principles expected from a Prime Minister of a European country in the context of a democracy which guaranteed freedom of the press.

It-Torca said that there was no cause for alarm as the country’s security was now much better than it was on June 12 as another two vessels have been placed on the alert for the possibility of other missiles that could be fired.

Irresponsible report aimed at damaging the country - government

In a statement issued later in the afternoon the government described the report as irresponsible and aimed at damaging the country.

It said the report was not an isolated one as several deceitful stories had been reported and broadcast since the Libya crisis started.

The government said that while it was acting in a responsible manner, the opposition and its media were bent on publishing stories which put jobs in danger.

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat should stop this strategy which went against the national interest, the government said.

The Torca report, it said, created a link between diplomatic initiatives being taken by the government in view of developments in Tripoli and Benghazi, endangering all the government’s efforts to be prudent.

The irresponsible reporting could also endanger the investments Maltese had in Libya now and in the future.

It was not true that sources from Castille had spoken to it-Torca, the government insisted, saying this was the worst form of journalism. It said that those who were serious did not adhere to such deceitful and false reporting.

The government referred to it-Torca’s claim that the visit to Malta by Commander Stravridis had remained a mystery and said there had been nothing mysterious about the visit and a meeting at Castille had also been open to the media. Commander Stravridis had also given comments to the press and photos were published by the Department of Information.

The government said it was a shame that there were those who, without any scruples, sought to damage the national interest.