The last meeting • Gaddafi told Gonzi to tell EU of ‘Islamist orchestration’ of Arab unrest

Lawrence Gonzi said that nobody could predict the strife that engulfed Libya on the "Day of Rage" of 17 February, 2011, when just a week earlier he met North African dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The former prime minister, whose recollections of the Libyan conflict that deposed Gaddafi, have been penned by former ambassador to Libya Joseph Cassar, says he accepted to meet Gaddafi on 8 February, when the meeting had been pushed back.

Gonzi was "aware of rumours of the possibility of anti-government demonstrations in Cyrenaica", the eastern part of Libya. "Libya appeared to have remained untouched by the unrest in two of its immediate neighbours," Cassar writes. "Nonetheless, Gonzi knew that appearances could be deceptive in Gaddafi's Libya."

But Gonzi decided that in the hope of registering progress on a dispute on oil exploration and the patrolling of Libyan borders against irregular migrants crossing to Malta, he would attend the meeting brought back to 8 February "in Malta's national interest".

A mood of friendship between Malta and Libya was visibly alive during the meeting: Gonzi discussed irregular migration, a double-taxation agreement and the 5+5 summit with then prime minister Baghdadi Ali Mahmoudi. He also asked for Libya to sell Malta gas at a competitive price.

Later that evening, he met Gaddafi in a tent on the outskirts of Tripoli, instead of the customary Bab al-Aziziya military compound. "In what felt like a never-ending drive, the convoy left the highway leading to the airport to turn into an unlit road. They drove in the darkness until they reached a military outpost and slowed down to crawling speed on reaching the gates of the compound. As they proceeded, the cars drove though concentric circles of strategically dug foxholes, each manned by one of two soldiers armed with machine guns."

After discussing most of the subjects Gonzi had earlier raised with Al Mahmoudi, Gaddafi ordered everyone out of the tent, and the two leaders were left alone, only with Maltese embassy official Nader Salem Rizzo, and Al Mahmoudi.

Inside the tent, Gaddafi discussed the Tunisian protests and President Ben Ali's ousting, and claimed that the protests were being orchestrated by fundamentalist cells linked to Al Qaeda.

"This was a crucial moment for the whole of North Africa, Gaddafi stressed. Extremist forces that until recently had been held at bay were now coming out into the open, challenging established authority and intent on creating Islamic caliphates... Nothing in all this was spontaneous."

Gaddafi told Gonzi to tell his EU counterparts of the Islamist threat. In his reply, Gonzi said "he did not exclude that there could be attempts by fundamentalists to steer the present unrest" but he added that "one had to acknowledge that in both countries there were also moderate forces that were participating in the protests and requesting social, economic and political reforms."

Gonzi communicated the EU's message for dialogue and restraint in the use of force, but Gaddafi replied that "Al Qaeda were not interested in dialogue" and stood up and accompanied Gonzi to the tent's entrance.

"It was no obvious to [Gonzi] that, in spite of his apparent calm composure, Gaddafi was quite nervous, fearing the impact that the events in Tunisia and Egypt could have on the stability of his own regime....

"The only reason why Libya had advanced the meeting was for [Gonzi] to hear Gaddafi's views on developments in Tunisia and Egypt in person. This was done in the hope that the Maltese premier would then convey to his EU counterparts the Libyan leader's wish to see Ben Ali reinstalled as President of Tunisia. The day's events had again reflect Gaddafi's consistently self-centred attitude in all situations and cast doubt on how much the Libyan leader really cared about Malta, its people and their needs."

As Cassar writes, without quoting Gonzi directly, he signs off this particular chapter stating that "perhaps the time had come to rethink Malta's longstanding relationship with the Gaddafi regime" - although it is unclear whether it was this meeting with the Libyan dictator that effectively sealed Gonzi's impression of Gaddafi's "self-centred attitude."

As the Maltese delegation prepared to leave Tripoli on 9 February, Gonzi received news that emails were circulating in preparation of a "Day of Rage" planned for 17 February.

Publishers Kite is run by Gonzi's former spokesperson, Gordon Pisani, as well as Ray Bezzina, formerly a spokesperson for environment minister George Pullicino.