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.

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.

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

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.

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.

…that’s ‘with’ contempt.

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.

Now that you mention it Kev, did Gaddafi ever finance the Eurosceptics? You seem upset that he’s gone.

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.]

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?