How Mintoff started with Gaddafi as he meant to go on – in 1971
The Morning Record, Aug 3, 1971
YOUNG LIBYAN COLONEL SPEAKS FOR ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
By C. L. Sulzberger
LONDON – It is astonishing what an extraordinary influence on international affairs a sparsely populated and backward Libya has had during the past month.
It has successively intervened in Morocco (where it endorsed an aborted coup d’etat against the King), in Malta (where it is encouraging the Mintoff Government to squeeze out NATO), and Sudan (where it did everything possible to help Premier Gaafar al-Nimeiry oust a pro-Communist putsch and launch and anti-Marxist purge).
As if to drive home the point that, despite its population of under two million, Libya can speak with a loud and often provocative voice, it brazenly ordered a British commercial plane en route to Sudan to land at a Libyan field and conspired with Maltese air control to insure that this was done.
Aboard the jet were two Sudanese leaders of the short-lived putsch regime. They were arrested, sent to Khartoum, and promptly executed.
(…)
———————————————–
In 1985, an old RAF coach painted white and marked 'Ambulance' sits on the runway at Luqa, waiting to receive the injured from a hijacked Egyptair plane, as the Labour government refused to allow US commandos to the rescue because 'we are neutral'
Fourteen years later, transfixed by horror, I watched live on Xandir Malta the death of half a planeload of people.
The Egyptair plane, which had been hijacked, sat on the tarmac at Luqa airport for hours while a control room packed with inept Labour cabinet ministers, led by prime minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, ‘negotiated’ with the hijackers in cod Arabic and pidgin Maltese spoken LOUDLY and enunciated in separate syllables SO DET DE HI JEK ERS WUD UN DER STENT.
If it hadn’t been real, it would have been hysterical. As it was, it was hysterical for other reasons, all the wrong ones.
In one of the craziest episodes of that dangerous government, the Labour prime minister refused to accept all offers of help from crack military teams, including the United States, several of whose citizens were on board, BECAUSE MALTA IS NEUTRAL.
Or more precisely, because they were scared of Gaddafi’s reaction and were prepared to risk all those lives and expose us to international disgrace.
They eventually allowed the Egyptians into Malta to take care of their own plane, and those Egyptian soldiers, who hadn’t a clue how to proceed, began by killing more people on board than the hijackers did.
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Not to mention the dismal track record the Egyptian commandos had with an almost equally badly mishandled hijacking in Cyprus.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=luhHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qf8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=4490,3811778&dq=gaddafi+mintoff&hl=en
The name of this survivor came to mind: http://www.jackiepflug.com/
“The terrorists began to execute one passenger every 15 minutes until their demands for fuel were met. Like four passengers before me, I was shot at point blank range, execution style, thrown from the plane onto the tarmac and left for dead. For five hours, I drifted in and out of consciousness until an airport grounds crew retrieved my body on its way to the morgue. Fifty-nine passengers died during the ordeal.”
Hansard, ANGLO-MALTESE DEFENCE AGREEMENT
HC Deb 27 July 1971 vol 822 cc253-63 253
§ 5.48 p.m.
§Mr. Patrick Wall (Haltemprice):
[…]
“There is a third possibility, a halfway house. This was suggested in an article in the Daily Telegraph on 27th July. It is some form of alliance with Arab Socialism. I should like to quote one paragraph from that article, which says: Western observers cannot see the Libyan Revolutionary Council making a hard and fast agreement pledging large-scale aid over a 10 to 15-year period, while Maltese long-term economic planning could hardly depend on such a factor as Col. Gaddafi. In other words, the Maltese delegation in Libya at the moment may be asking for financial aid. Can any financial aid from Libya be given in the long term? I believe that pinning the future of Malta to such aid would be very dangerous indeed. Nor do I believe that an alliance between Arab Socialism and a neutral Malta in the world we know today fits in with Malta’s historic past.”
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1971/jul/27/anglo-maltese-defence-agreement#S5CV0822P0_19710727_HOC_245
And from the same source:
Mr. George Wallace (Norwich, North), on his first visit to Mintoff:
“In 1965 I went to Malta with a C.P.A. delegation. I believe that that was the first British delegation to Malta. At that time the present Prime Minister had a terrific chip on his shoulder in connection with the Church.”
“We tried to establish contact with him. In the end the message reached us, “If you want to see me come to see me at my house. I will not come to you”. We went. We sat down to discuss various things. We wanted to be helpful and friendly. All that Dom Mintoff kept saying was, “You have taken your Army and your Navy out. This is your problem. You give us the solution”. He was suffering then because he felt that by withdrawing our Navy we had undermined the standard of life of his people.”
So much for the glorious liberation of Malta from il-mishut barrani; Joseph should use these points in next year’s Freedom Day speech.
Can anyone from the MLP guarantee that Gaddafi did not help fund the MLP general election campaign of 1971?
But of course – the USD60million ‘loan’ from Gaddafi was not in the MLP’s name. It was in Mintoff’s name. The MLP government then paid back the loan in full with the money received from Britain for the use of military bases here.
Work out what happened in between.
This incident exposed Malta and its government to international ridicule.
The negotiating powers of that crackpot KMB were shown to be zilch.
The disastrous end result underlined our neutrality.
Fifty percent (actually more) died and the other fifty (no Maltastar, not sixty) percent survived.
It was one of the most tragic endings in the history of civil aviation hijackings.
It was roughly 50-50, a neutral balance.
If KMB had been entrusted with negotiating a settlement in Libya, three million people would have died. That would have satisfied his deranged ego, I am sure.
If half die then the other half survive.
Hekk dejjem inzommu l-bilanc prudenti u nibqghu niehdu dik in-naqa minghand il-kap ta stat leggitmu, l-mad dog, li baghtnilu l-ikel fil-laned bil-vapur.
I was moving from Canada to Switzerland at that time.
I watched, astonished, as the botchup occurred.
I asked myself, what is it with the Maltese?
Now, after so many years in Malta, including many wonderful, but also, some very unfortunate personal experiences at the hands of Labour, I know.
They were ruled by a bunch of inept, incompetent, clueless parasites of the Libyan dictator.
The same incompetents who are now licking their lips and salivating at the thought of a return to power. I fear for my Maltese grandchildren.
I am sorry for you, Harry. My grandchildren are all planned to arrive beyond our shores.
My children have all left the island.
Maybe yours can leave too.
The future here is bleak.
These peasants will rule the roost for ten or fifteen years.
Ihottu kollox.
Then the country will be rebuilt. It will be back to normal by around 2040.
We have been through all this before.
Deja vu.
Anthony, I understand that if these incompetents return to power, the future is worse than bleak.
However, I love this beautiful little island, and will fight, yes fight, to keep it safe for my grandchildren, both of whom were born here and have known no other place. Surely, I can take them to Switzerland, or Canada, but this is their home.
Daphne’s blog is a light that illuminates all the wrongs of these scary people. No, I will stay and do the best of my little bit to keep these grubby little people out of power..
Get your grandchildren out before it’s too late, Purdie.
Did the Tunisians run away? The Egyptians? The Libyans? Are the Syrians running away?
We have the opportunity to PREVENT the retarded remnants of our own nasty regime from regaining power.
Run away? No way.
It’s all well to delve into the past, especially when it lends insight into the future – and that’s where hardly any of you dares to venture.
To discern future scenarios you need the facts. BBC, SKY, CNN… are NOT giving you ALL the facts (this, apart from the ever-present fog – the accumulative fabrication of truths underlying the staple illusion).
For those of you who get their news from the Box, better watch EuroNews. At least, focused as they are on EU propaganda, they seem to be making an extra effort towards less biased reporting on the Libyan conflict. Their NewsPlus is certainly more informative than the hyperbolic, melodramatic, disgustingly deceitful BBC.
Take the rampant lynching of black Libyans? Have you been informed? These killings are not sporadic. It’s not because blacks are mistaken for mercenaries. This is violent racism.
Here are a few of the latest reports on this issue:
Amnesty International: Libya’s rebels must end abuse of blacks: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44339768/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
‘Libyans don’t like people with dark skin, but some are innocent’: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/libyans-dont-like-people-with-dark-skin-but-some-are-innocent-2345859.html
Libyan Rebels Killing Blacks, Says African Union
http://www.bet.com/news/global/2011/08/29/libyan-rebels-killing-blacks-says-au.html
And here’s long-time investigative journalist Pepe Escobar’s take (second video, but you’d all do well to watch all three – it’s a info-ride):
http://www.infowars.com/infowars-special-report-al-qaeda-takes-libya-with-alex-jones-and-pepe-escobar/
I’m also re-linking this Debka report (Israeli) as it relates to what Escobar says:
http://www.debka.com/article/21249/
Gro-o-o-a-an!
Sorry, but there’s no other way of putting it.
Yes, I know about the lynching of blacks. And so do many, many others here.
Did you know about the Eritrean demonstration in Malta? It was for that very reason.
This was distributed on 3rd March – six months before you discovered what’s happening.
Open Letter to the International Community and the Maltese Government from the Eritrean community in Malta
We, the Eritrean community in Malta, stand firmly in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Libya, who are in serious danger there but who cannot return to Eritrea where they will definitely face persecution.
Asylum seekers in Libya have long faced blatant violations of their human rights. Since the unrest in libya started, matters have escalated further. Our brothers and sisters there have told us of the atrocious racist violence they are suffering at the hands of anti-government protestors, especially because of reports that the mercenaries engaged by Gaddafi are sub-Saharan Africans. There are reports that sub-Saharan Africans are being indiscriminately stabbed and killed with knives and machetes in the city of Benghazi. We have information that at least two Eritreans were killed, while several others were stabbed and injured.
Yesterday we were contacted by friends in Tripoli who informed us that in the past days 16 Eritreans/sub-Saharan Africans were kidnapped in Tripoli and their whereabouts are still unknown. They also told us that many sub-Saharan Africans are being evicted from their homes with nowhere to go, because Libyan landlords are no longer willing to rent out accommodation to them.
There are an estimated 2000 Eritrean asylum seekers in Tripoli, with smaller numbers stranded in banghazi, misratah, Ijdabya, Zawiya and Kufrah. We have also been informed that most of the Eritrean and Ethiopian asylum seekers in Benghazi, some 270 people, are at the port hiding from the violence and waiting in the hope of being rescued.
We appeal to you: please do not forget these and other asylum seekers who are stranded in Libya without any state to protect them. Either stuck in prisons and detention centres or hiding in their homes, their lives are at risk. Apart from the fear of attack, they are suffering hunger and thirst as food and other supplies run short.
At the same, time, we commend the Maltese government for giving us much-needed protection, and for the extraordinary efforts it is now making to provide assistance to the humanitarian mission to evacuate foreign nationals from Libya.
In the light of the blatant brutality threatening our brothers and sisters in Libya, whether at the hands of the Libyan government or the opposition, the Eritrean community in Malta urgently requests:
1. Foreign embassies and diplomatic representatives in Malta to encourage their respective countries to provide protection to Eritrean asylum seekers in Libya who are manifestly in danger;
2. the Maltese government to accept to shelter some of these asylum seekers, particularly those who have spouses or other relatives in Malta, and to provide assistance for the evacuation of Eritrean asylum seekers so that they can be given protection by the international community.
We thank you for your prompt attention,
Yours sincerely,
(Mr) Goitom Yosief Asmelash
Spokesperson for the Eritrean Community in Malta
Mon +356 9906 3084
Email: [email protected]
Issa naghtik star talli kont taf dwar l-Open Letter qabel kulhadd.
So what about the future? Will the Islamists take over? Will we see NATO troops, apart from UN peacekeeping forces? Is the end of Gaddafi, when it finally comes, the end of it all? For you, I know, it is.
If you know the answer, why do you ask?
Let me consult my crystal ball…
Actually, I wasn’t the first to know about that open letter, but I thought that you might need evidence of some kind, given your unshakeable self-belief.
Oh, and as a matter of interest, why don’t you ask any questions about the *future* of black people in Libya? I though that that was your main concern.
You still don’t get it, do you? The lynching bit was an example of what the BBC dismissed as unworthy news. The Open Letter only confirms what I’m saying.
Another issue is that the Islamists are already in control, de facto. There’s enough evidence to substantiate that these Al-Qaeda-linked Islamists were trained and armed by the CIA, French intelligence, and British intelligence and special forces. The game is much more complex than it seems – and you won’t be getting any details from the BBC and the rest of the corporate media apparatura. On the contrary, you’ll be derailed.
As Escobar said, the February uprising was legit, but it has now been hijacked. The people of Libya have been deceived. True, Gaddafi was a dictator – like many others across the globe befriended by the West. But it is not all B&W. I bet you haven’t seen these videos:
Huge (a million?) pro-Gaddafi demonstration – only last July:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL962cl3vho&feature=related
‘Pro-Gaddafi Rally in Benghazi Shot at by Rebel Terror Gangs’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGplXgUODZM&feature=related
You don’t get it, do you? You need to keep on banging that corporate media drum so you trot out news stories you think no one’s heard before.
Here’s news for you: You’re the one who repeatedly cites the BBC.
I wouldn’t read too much into the million man march in favour of Gaddafi. Hitler mobilised millions.
Now, about the little matter of immigration. Wasn’t there someone in your household who through Gaddafi’s demand for a billion dollars to restrict immigration was a great idea? I don’t remember your public screeching about that. Maybe I blinked and missed it.
Now that you mention it Kev, did Gaddafi ever finance the Eurosceptics? You seem upset that he’s gone.
Kevvy, you are truly delusional. Please desist in quoting other websites and think for yourself. Or stick to the dishes.
Had I no respect for my elders, Purdie, I would have treated you like the smart alec you believe you are.
You have no respect for anyone who disagrees with you, Kevvy.
You are not telling us anything we do not know yet.
Mintoff’s and KMB’s best friend Gaddafi has been rounding up blacks for years now and either shipping them over to Europe on rickety boats, lynching them or using them as mercenaries.
Re what will the future hold for Libya, try reading the tea leaves or Nostradamus, or ask KMB who seems to be the resident expert on the subject on Smash TV.
Kevin seems to think that those of us who supported the Libyan war did so out of some naive Utopian motivation.
Not true.
Do the rebels practise summary executions, torture, looting and rape? Of course!
Are some rebels Islamists? Of course!
Were some of them trained by Al Qaeda in Afghanistan? Of course!
Did weapons firms push for this war so they could make money and get a free advertising campaign courtesy of the media? Of course!
Will the new Libya be a European-standard democracy? Of course not!
Given this, is this removal of Ghaddafi still justified? Of course!
Are we still screwed? Of course! Is this the end? Would that it were.
But that is still level-one thinking, Baxxter. WHY are Western special forces backing Islamists who have publicly stated they want to impose Sharia law and are not willing to share power?
Is it because they’re naive and short-sighted? Most definitely not. Who’s calling the shots that Sarkozy, Cameron and Obama are parroting? What’s the plan within the agenda? That’s where you get lost… and I cannot go on as you are… well, still at level one. But I did mention the plan some months ago, when many here chose to ridicule something they couldn’t fathom for lack of knowledge.
So you’re saying the Jews are behind it, aren’t you?
Xi dwejjaq fik, Baxxter. Had I not answered that question before? Stop playing smart when you’re clearly not.
The answer, again, is NO. As I had explained, the European/American/Jewish elites collude in treating everyone in contempt. The state of Israel is a tool, not an end in itself. That’s as far as I’ll go with you, Baxxter. Sorry, but you’re a waste of time.
…that’s ‘with’ contempt.
I know I’m not as smart as you, Kevin, but I’m ten times the man you are. And Matthew Camilleri is a hundred times the man I am.
Labour has been responsible for many deaths.
So what happened exactly? I keep seeing this ‘Egyptair’ story mentioned but never read an explanation as to what happened.
[Dahne – How hard is it to use Google, Ian? I’ll give you one link, you use your initiative and do the rest: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/24/newsid_4356000/4356024.stm ]
Ask your history or social studies teacher, Ian. And if they don’t answer you, tell them that Baxxter says they can go boil their heads.
Ian, one day, when you grow up and learn how to use Google, you’ll be able to find out even il-kulur tal-qalziet ta’ taht tal-ispettur investigattiv tal-gurnata…
Ah, Kevvy, the Google Master, selectively picking the bits and pieces that ‘substantiate’ his weird conspiracy theories. Amazing how good he is when he has all that daily housework to do.
You had said something on these lines last March when I warned you that the Libyan conflict will take ages to resolve.
Once a Kanak always a Kanak, Purdie… yes, I know, you prefer to be called ‘Canuck’, but ‘Kanak’ is better suited in your case.
Define ‘ages’ Kevvy. Six months is ‘ages’? You must think bigger and for yourself–no more conspiracy websites.
Ah, Kevvy, so young, so inexperienced, so full of shit.
Now run along and tidy up the housey wousey before Mummy gets home.
Six months? Who in Canada told you it’s over? We’ve only just begun. In a few months you’ll be lighting candles for Muammar.
What are you smoking, Kevvy?
Joseph Muscat is barely able to contain his excitement after his visit to Muammar Gaddafi:
http://www.josephmuscat.com/pages/lc/articleDetails_lc.asp?id=2451
As for the Egypt-air story, some things need clearified:
Both the U.S. and Egyptian ambassadors were at the airport at all times while negotiations were taking place.
The U.S.Navy ‘hospital’ was on alert in Naples.
The closest U.S. military base was (and still is) at Sigonella in Sicily.
It was the U.S. ambassador who suggested to use the Egyptian Special Forces Counterterrorism team – who were trained by the U.S. Delta Force.
Yes, there were 9 U.S. citizens on the plane, but the majority were Egyptian, if I’m not mistaken 50 in total.
[Daphne – Well, that’s a partial description if ever I heard one. The US did not suggest the use of the Egyptians, but Americans, and was refused outright by MIfsud Bonnici. By then, some 24 hours had gone by, if not more, and it was a matter of casting about for somebody who Mifsud Bonnici would find acceptable. There were two problems in that hijacking: the hijackers and the Maltese prime minister. Both had to be dealt with. I watched it live on television, Christian, remember.]
@MsDCG. I too had watched it on TV. KMB had refused American help.
Remember how there was so much confusion that when the storming by the Egyptians took place, on RAI TV they referred to them as Le Teste di Cuoio Maltesi?
It was in the days when KMB tipped off buddy Gaddafi about the impending bombing of his compound, fruit products from Israel were banned as was the film “Raid on Entebbe” and certain editions of OGGI.
You omitted the crucial bit, Christian. The Egyptian unit was led by four US officers, who were promptly detained by the Maltese government as soon as they landed and kept at the U.S. embassy and AFM’s A Sqn headquarters.
Because they were wearing US uniforms and military uniforms weren’t allowed on Maltese territory because of our neutrality clause.
No, I am not joking.
There’s something called a Status Of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which is a sort of diplomatic passport for foreign troops on one’s territory.
Except that Malta would rather be dead than sign a SOFA with the US. Or many other countries for that matter.
I remember, some fifteen years back, the loss of a ship repair contract for some US Navy vessel, because our lawyer-politicians (mostly Labour, but Nationalist jurisprudence slaves went along) were aghast at the idea of US Navy personnel on Maltese territory “in full bUttledress”.
We all know what happened in 1985.
I’m not entirely convinced it would be different if it were to happen today. SOFAs have been signed when foreign troops were in Malta for training purposes but for a military deployment? Would Malta rise to the occasion?
True, the Delta force trainers were sent straight to the U.S. Embassy in Floriana, but really, they had no history of any successes when it come to dealing with aircraft hijacking. If I’m not mistaken before that episode, every other time they got involved it was a disaster.
Don’t think there was any other way out of this situation, looking at the history of hijackings organised by a Palestinian organisation. Every time they were involved, it ended up really bad, with one exeption, when Mahmoud Abbas, now president of the Palestinian National Authority, acted as a mediator.
[Daphne – Oh please.]
OK, let’s get some facts straight (Kevin, if you’re not interested just sod off).
We know there were four uniformed US officers accompanying the Egyptian unit. Whether they were Delta or not, we’ll never know.
[Daphne- They were detained by the Maltese authorities.]
There were three notable successes in the history of Islamist hijackings where the plane was stormed (I mean successes by the Western side. With you people I can never tell):
Lufthansa flight 181 (Mogadishu), 1977
Singapore Airlines flight 117 (Singapore), 1991
Air France 8968 (Marignane), 1994
(and the Vnukovo airlines hijacking in Saudi Arabia, where one passanger was killed during the assault)
So, yes, don’t go thinking that it’s all right because it can’t be done anyway therefore the Maltese government was right to let the Egyptians storm the plane therefore Maltese foreign policy under KMB was up to scratch.
It wasn’t. It was a frigging joke.
We’re still saddled with that political baggage.
We’re still saddled with that political baggage.”
Too right, but not as saddled as the Libyans are. Remember this? http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110227/local/malta-should-mediate-between-gaddafi-and-the-protesters-mifsud-bonnici.352197
Mr Baxxter,
Just to clarify one thing – I never said ‘Islamist groups’ – I said ‘Palestinian Organisations’, and yes, if I’m not mistaken it was in 1977 when Mr. Abbas intervened. The other two cases were after the local event, none of which were Palestinians and in no case did the Americans get involved.
If negotiation means letting the terrorists go free and saving all the hostages, I’d rather take the risk of getting some hostages killed, and prosecuting the terrorists.
Just before some election there was a hijacked Libyan Arab Airlines plane which was de-routed from its internal flight in Libya, by two anti-Gaddafi hijackers.
Negotiations ended with the passengers freed – and after ‘reassurances’ by Mintoff that they won’t be hurt, the two hijackers were sent directly to Libya.
Nothing was heard of them again.
May they R.I.P. poor souls.
Conversations between the hijackers and the Maltese ‘negotiators’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap73NXpXdG0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pycVurtjt2o&feature=related