The police are holding two foreign men for questioning after they were found to be residing in Malta without the necessary permits.

One of them, an Iraqi national aged 31, allegedly attacked a police constable and ran away as officers approached the two men on Wednesday night.

The Iraqi suspect was found and arrested later in a residence at Sliema.

The police said they received information at 11.30 p.m. that two persons were acting suspiciously in San Guzepp Street, Sliema. They went to the spot indicated to them and after a search detected two men fitting the description given by the individual who filed the report. However, when the police were talking to the suspects, one of them, who turned out to be an Iraqi, attacked the police and ran away.

The other man, a Libyan aged 24, was held by the officers for investigations which revealed that he did not have the necessary permit to reside in Malta, the police said.

The Iraqi also did not have a residence permit, the police said.

In a separate incident, two Serbs, a female aged 27 and a man aged 26, were held by the police after they too were found to be residing in Malta without a permit. The Sliema district police were investigating after somebody reported hearing loud noises in a residence in Graham Street, Sliema, at about 2.30 a.m. yesterday, Police investigations continue.