(Last updated at 9 p.m.)
Italian Home Affairs Minister Robarto Maroni said this evening that there existed a possibility that 140 migrants rescued from two boats off Lampedusa might be taken back to Libya.
Sig Maroni was speaking in a telephone interview with RAI after the migrants were transferred from two drifting boats to Italian patrol boats. The migrants had been stranded since the morning amid controversy over whether Italy or Malta should assume responsibility for them.
The Italian minister said it had not been decided yet whether the migrants would be landed in Lampedusa or elsewhere, adding that there was a possibility that they could even be taken back to Libya.
The two boats had been drifting some 50 miles off the Italian island since the morning. For most of the day the Italian authorities did not send any assets to offer assistance, with the Italian media repeating the line that the migrants were seen as being Malta's responsibility since they were in the Maltese search and rescue region, an argument which Malta rejects.
In Strasbourg, Maltese MEP Simon Busuttil, speaking in the European Parliament, described the situation as 'serious' and insisted that individual countries should not try to brush off their responsibilities onto others.
Dr Busuttil, speaking on a report recommending amendments to the Dublin II regulation and the introduction of mandatory burden-sharing, said that what was happening off Lampedusa undermined the solidarity which the report was calling for.
The people could not understand how one spoke of solidarity, while individual states were trying to shirk their responsibilities, he said. The latest grave incident between Malta and Italy was the third of its kind, he pointed out.
According to international law, the migrants were to be taken to Lampedusa, which was the nearest port, but Italy was refusing to rescue them, he said.
Dr Busuttil said the actions of Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni violated international law and were inhuman with regard to the migrants. This was certainly unbecoming of Italy and sent a dangerous message that one should not rescue migrants because one would have to keep them.
He urged EU Justice and Home Affairs Minister Jacques Barrot to intervene immediately to unblock the situation and to insist that Italy honour its obligations. However, Dr Busuttil said, he was also urging all EU member states to realise this was not just an issue between Italy and Malta but a responsibility which should be shouldered by all.
Earlier this afternoon, an Italian chemical carrier, the Lia Ievoli , which was directed by Malta Rescue Centre to pick up the migrants, said it could not find the boats and continued on its way to Tunisia.
A spokesman for the Maltese Home Affairs Ministry, contacted by timesofmalta.com, insisted that when people at sea were in distress, it was the authorities of the nearest country which should intervene to rescue them.
Spokesman Darrell Pace said Malta's obligations under international law were to coordinate rescue operations within its search and rescue zone but it was the nearest country which had to intervene.
Mr Pace pointed out that Malta in the past 12 months rescued 3,500 migrants in similar circumstances.
"Malta is playing its part, and expects other countries to also do their duty in terms of international law, without excuses and mindful of humanitarian considerations," Mr Pace said. He also hoped no one would twist facts around.
The Maltese government earlier this week said in a statement that while Malta would rescue migrants who were in distress and had to abandon their boats, in other cases, the migrants could be assisted to continue on their way.
The statement was issued after the two recent standoffs with Italy, the first involving the Pinar, and the second, last week, when Italian vessels prevented the Maltese patrol boat from taking 66 migrants to Lampedusa, which was the nearest port after the migrants were picked up just 24 miles off the Italian island. Malta insists that in terms of international law, people rescued at sea have to be taken to the nearest harbour.