Malta to sign six agreements with Qatar

Foreign minister Tonio Borg announced Malta will be signing six new agreements with the Gulf state of Qatar in the fields of trade, science, research, and culture.

Today's visit of the Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani marks a deepening of relations between Malta and the resource-rich state, Borg said in a press conference forming part of government's efforts in promoting its past four years in government.

"We want to develop good relations with the Gulf state, which also forms part of the Arab World. They are resource-rich countries who are interested in investing money overseas and we are doing what we can to see that some of this investment comes to Malta," the minister said.

Borg said that the visit of the Qatari emir proved that there had been feedback from the Gulf states since his last visit to Doha.

Borg also hinted at some important projects in the pipeline, without going into detail.

The possibility of Malta purchasing oil at favourable prices will be discussed in talks with the Emir.

Libya 'should sign' Geneva Convention

In what marks a new approach to Libya's entry into the stream of democratic countries, Tonio Borg said the north African state should now become a signatory to the 1951 Geneva Convention on the rights of refugees.

Borg's statement reflects the game-change in relations with Libya since the fall of the Gaddafi regime, when Malta and Italy abided by demands from the dictator for European monies in a bid to control the flow of immigration from his country - little pressure then was made on Libya to sign the Geneva Convention.

"It is in our interest that Libya signs the Geneva convention so that it can process claims by asylum seekers. However the EU must help Libya in setting up the system, otherwise Libya would not have a practical interest in signing the convention," he said.

Borg was unequivocal on the role played by Muammar Gaddafi in using migration as a bargaining chip to put pressure on the European Union.

"Significantly, when Italy signed the €5 billion agreement with Gaddafi there was a reduction in the flow of migration to Europe. Today we are sure that the Gaddafi regime used migration as a leverage to get money out of Europe," Borg said.

Most of the surviving migrants interviewed by Goldsmiths University of London researchers into the 'left-to-die-boat' ignored by Nato vessels in the Mediterranean in April 2011, have testified to the active role that former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's troops played not only in organising and managing the crossing but also in often forcing Sub-Saharan migrants to leave.