UPDATED/Muscat met by Il-Qahbu in Marsascala

The Malta Independent reports that Times of Malta first uploaded, then removed, a photograph last Sunday showing the prime minister being greeted enthusiastically by Golden Years thug Edwin ‘Il-Qahbu’ Bartolo in Marsascala, when he went there to drum up support for his plans to give land in the area to his Jordanian contact Hani Hasan Naji Al Salah.

The photograph was probably uploaded without anyone in the newsroom recognising the man in the yellow shirt (I didn’t either). But then why was it taken down, when Times of Malta and The Sunday Times are scrutinising the Zonqor Point project so closely and appear to be against it?

I’m told that the reason it was taken down is because it was replaced by a video of the event, that Il-Qahbu wasn’t recognised, and therefore there was no agenda. This fits.

The fact that he was there, however, is a real story. So much for the “enthusiastic welcome” which the government boasted about.