Gonzi to meet El-Keib in Tripoli on Monday

A spokesman for the National Transitional Council (NTC) has confirmed that El-Keib will hold official talks with Prime Minister Gonzi, and foreign minister Tonio Borg, and will officially mark the beginning of a new era of cooperation between the two neighbouring countries since the fall of Col. Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

It will be Gonzi's first time in Tripoli since February, when he was the last European leader to meet with Col. Gaddafi just one week before the February 17 uprising.

Malta played a key role during the Libyan uprising, initially granting asylum to two defecting pilots who flew two Mirages jet fighters belonging to the Libyan Air Force to Malta, defying orders to bomb the city of Benghazi.

The island also served as a vital lifeline for the besieged port city of Misurata, while also receiving more than 20,000 foreigners from 98 countries who were evacuated from Libya.

Malta did not provide its territory as a military base, but served as hub for a massive international humanitarian operation that provided medicines, food and water to thousands of civilians, while also providing medical help to a number of casualties.

While US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed their thanks to the Maltese people for their assistance in the evacuation of their nationals from Libya, they also acknowledged Malta's role as a regional authority.

Libya's NTC Chairman Moustafa' Jalil and the former interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril visited Malta twice, expressing gratitude on behalf of the Libyan people.

Next week Air Malta will resume its scheduled flights to Tripoli, while the Libyan Arab Airlines have started their flights from Benghazi and Tripoli to Malta last Wednesday.

Talks between Prime Ministers El-Keib and Gonzi are expected to be focused on establishing a working relationship between the two countries in various fields.

The most prominent being Malta's proposal to Libya for a joint oil exploration programme, the lifting of an exclusive fishing zone that prohibits Maltese fishermen from approaching the Gulf of Sirte, and illegal immigration, with a view for a repatriation programme.