Benghazi TNC leaders to visit Malta

Video : TeleSur (Spain)

The visit by Ahmed Jibril, the Transitional Councils interim Prime Minister will reciprocate a visit held last Sunday in Benghazi by the Maltese foreign minister Tonio Borg, who received a warm welcome by a large crowd that welcomed him with Maltese flags.

Maltese flags were seen on balconies and in people’s hands as they chanted ‘Malta! Malta!’ when Tonio Borg walked along the main streets, met merchants, ordinary people and visited sites where a number of people were killed while fighting against Gaddafi troops.

A Maltese flag flew proudly above a large banner that showed French President Nicolas Sarkozy with the words ‘Thank You France’.

During his walk-about through the streets of Benghazi last Sunday, Tonio Borg was approached by a number of people who used to live in Malta.

Some played football with local clubs, others worked in the construction industry and others have relations with Maltese families.

All expressed gratitude towards Malta for ensuring a humanitarian corridor with medical and food supplies that are vital both for Benghazi and other rebel-held towns like Misurata.

Meanwhile, the Maltese government is considering offering a credit line to the Libyan Transitional National Council and allowing it to repay borrowed money through assets belonging to the government led by Muammar Gaddafi and which have been frozen in Malta.

Malta also committed itself to help out the war-torn country by offering humanitarian aid in the form of health care and scholarships to Libyan students.

The Maltese government announced last month it considered the Benghazi-based council as the “sole legitimate interlocutor of the Libyan people”, severing contact with Col Gaddafi’s regime.

In his meetings with Moustafa’ Jalil, the Chairman of the Transitional Council, humanitarian aid, finances and education were the three main points discussed, and Malta has promised further assistance in all three.

The imminent visit to Malta by Mahmoud Jibril is expected to consolidate the rapport between Malta and the Transitional Council, and a number of agreements may be signed.

Senior diplomatic sources have told MaltaToday that Malta is expected to serve as an important interlocutor for the Transitional Council within the European Union.

Government meanwhile is expected to appoint a senior diplomat to oversee the Malta representative office in Benghazi in the coming days.