So that's why Jibril came here: to make sure we don't shelter the bad guys
Mahmoud Jibril - concerned that Gaddafi loyalists will use Malta as a base
timesofmalta.com reported last night:
Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said this evening that one of the purposes of his visit to Malta was to discuss how the borders of the revolution could be secured from all sides.
He said that security and stability were a must for Libya and it was no coincidence that he had come here on his first stop after yesterday’s conference in Paris. The purpose was to discuss the security of the borders, ensuring that there was security for the revolution at all borders.
Replying to questions as a press conference after talks with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Dr Jibril confirmed that as in the case of all other countries bordering Libya, Malta could be used as a base for former regime functionaries to escape justice or to launch destabilising actions in Libya.
Libya’s national security could not be isolated from Malta’s national security.
Dr Gonzi said that Malta would not provide cover to anyone who sought to escape justice. Malta respected the rule of law and this would be applied.
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He’s right to worry. Malta has been a main base for Gaddafi’s henchmen and loyalists for 40 years. So what now? In this report, Gonzi and Jibril are talking about two different things.
Jibril is clearly worried that Malta will be used by Gaddafi loyalists as a ‘plotting-ground’ or large lair. Gonzi reassures him that Malta will not give refuge to those who are fleeing from the law.
But Jibril isn’t worried about fugitives from justice finding shelter in Malta. He’s worried that loyalists who are not on the wanted list, and who appear harmless to the Maltese authorities, will be given a visa and use the island to plot away unmolested.
That’s different.
The Malta Independent reported last Sunday that former Labour Party treasurer and Mutassim Gaddafi money-man Joe Sammut has been persistently lobbying the government for visas for his Libyan friends. The government flatly refused these requests.
Jibril mentioned the risk of such people, when they are refused visas, coming to Malta illegally. The internet is going wild with people who assume he meant a journey in the standard overloaded rickety craft, risking drowning. Their minds have been conditioned to think ‘illegal immigration = people crowded into old boats’.
They should get a grip. At that level, we’re not talking about a Gaddafi loyalist paying some trafficker for a dangerous journey in a leaky boat. We’re talking about some person in Malta taking his power-boat out for a spin ‘to Sicily’ and instead returning two days later with a Libyan friend or two.
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Like Joe Sammut’s friends:
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=131153
I am sure that Dr Jibril is a decent person, but Libya is not made up of Dr Jibrils. Right now it is teaming with young men carrying machine guns with a few Islamists thrown in.
Dr Jibril is defending his country’s interest when he says that the ‘borders of the revolution could be secured from all sides.’.But who is defending Malta’s borders and our interests? What is our PM doing on this matter?
Malta has a longstanding border dispute with Libya that has paralysed our prospects of oil exploration. Why isn’t our PM discussing Malta’s borders with Dr Jibril rather than discussing Libya’s concerns?
I hope that the authorities are keeping a good eye on Sammut’s activities.
The authorities would do well to keep a close watch on the Gaddafi loyalists who have been allowed to rule the roost at Paola Hill since the Golden Years.
” So that’s why jibril came here………”
I think yoy are wrong. Jibril came here because he was on his way home from the meeting, and he just hit two birds with a stone and stopped for a well deserved rest.
[Daphne – Why rest in Malta when you can rest in Paris?]
More importantly is whether he got the P.L.’s assurance that the Libayns he thinks will settle in Malta would be allowed to do so if the P.L. is elected in 18 months’ time.
Because the two birds might have been Gonzi and Joseph. And they were both in Malta.
@ Silvio: Jibril did not meet Muscat or any other PL representative while in Malta – or was this another Little Joe secret meeting?
Is it right that Angelo Farrugia has decided to take on the mantle of Lorry Sant and stand in the 4th District – with Joe Sammut standing for election in 2013?
Oh what fun………….