Former secretary to President joins foreign minister’s private secretariat

The President of the Republic's former secretary, Olaph Terribile, has returned to  a high-profile position in the public service with an appointment at the side of foreign minister George Vella, as private secretary.

Terribile, until recently leading the ministry's protocol office, now joins yet another former deputy leader of the Labour Party, and one who had never taken kindly to George Abela's decision to resign the post of deputy leader for party affairs in 1997 - a year into the Sant government.

In July 2010, Terribile was accused by President George Abela of having passed on official documents to the media, leading Abela to call for an inquiry into the alleged leak.

Terribile, a seasoned diplomat with 30 years' experience in the civil service, denied the accusations, claiming he was a victim of a 'complete fabrication' intended to destroy his reputation.

In December 2010, a government board of inquiry headed by Alfred Fiorini Lowell to establish whether documents from the Office of the President had been leaked, found no evidence against Terribile. The conclusions of the inquiry were later passed on to the Attorney General by the Prime Minister for "advice". However even here, the Attorney General found no grounds for any criminal action to be taken against Olaph Terribile.

It turned out that the inquiry called by Abela had been fuelled by a comment passed by former Malta Independent editor Noel Grima to Abela's spokesperson Marica Mizzi during a state dinner, suggesting that Terribile had met him and also MaltaToday editor Saviour Balzan.

The allegations were proved to be untrue as the Fiorini-Lowell inquiry established that it was never the case that Olaph Terribile ever met Saviour Balzan.