I think George made a lot of sense in this interview.

@Ciccio 2011: we cannot say that Malta had some special or preferential status with Libya. I dare say that we (Dr Gonzi) were taking a firm stand on oil exploration or Tunisia with Libya(Gaddafi). If that was not the case Dr Gonzi wouldn’t have stated “Gaddafi must go”.

In any case, any talk about detention policy will go down well in Australia because it is one of the countries to have applied it so rigidly. They have some islands off the coast where they keep detainees.

In fact, I think the EU is copying Australia’s detention policy, tacitly. They are keeping the detainees in Malta.

The Australian has quoted Dr. Abela as saying:

“We should attack the problem at its roots and produce more stable countries with a future of their own. This wave of democratisation should give the people a future in their own countries.”

I do not think that our history of the past 42 years, i.e. the relationship with Gaddafi, was anything close to “attack the problem at its roots…” and I do not know how Malta is in any way doing that, even as we speak.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/nato-is-united-in-spirit-but-fractured-in-fact/story-e6frg6ux-1226028323644