Libya crisis 'set to escalate after end of Ramadan'

Principal permanent secretary Mario Cutajar remained tight-lipped on the operation to bring back Maltese oil worker Martin Galea, abducted by militia rebels last week.

“No comment,” Cutajar replied, adding that this was imperative to ensure the safety and security of the 42-year-old man.

Together with the permanent secretary at the Home Affairs Ministry, Kevin Mahoney, the Director General at the Health Ministry Dennis Vella and OPM spokesman Matthew Carbone, Cutajar addressed an informal briefing with journalists on the situation in Libya.

Cutajar also heads the Government Contingency Centre (GCC) which is meeting on a daily basis and mapping out contingency plans in the eventuality of a mass evacuation from Libya.

The GCC is an inter-ministerial setup made of the Ministers for Home Affairs, Health, Social Solidarity and Foreign Affairs with the Office of the Prime Minister as the central coordinator.

Through the presence of the Home Affairs Ministry, the GCC is kept informed on the operations of the Malta Security Service that is monitoring the situation as well.

“The GCC is being kept informed of any developments,” Cutajar said vaguely when asked whether Malta was offering refuge to any Libyan officials or whether any politicians had landed in Malta.

According to Libyan media, the Libyan Prime Minister was stopped from flying out of Libya.

The Maltese nationals in Libya, remaining so far just a little over 100, have been urged by the government to return to Malta by catching the next commercial flight. 

Malta's ambassador to Libya Mannie Galea and two consuls remain in Tripoli.

“The government is coordinating commercial flights and contacting the Maltese to help them with the necessary arrangements. The Maltese who remain in Libya so far, do so out of their own will,” Cutajar said.

Given that this is not an evacuation process, the passengers pay for their own flight. More commercial flights from Libya will continue landing in Malta, mainly from the military airport of Mitiga, just outside Tripoli. 

“The situation in Libya is changing rapidly and we expect it to worsen after the end of Ramadan today,” Cutajar said, adding that information regarding no-fly zones is received by the day.

MaltaToday is informed there are two options with regard to closing of air space on Libya: the first is Libya closing its western airspace and the second is NATO declaring a no-fly zone over the North African country.

“But we are receiving conflicting information so we go day-by-day,” Cutajar added.

Explaining that this crisis was different from the 2011 Libyan revolution, Cutajar said the channels of communication were different and scattered on different levels. The matter is worsened by the lack of authority controlling the militias.

The government's contingency plan includes reception areas in the eventuality of mass evacuations from Libya, constant contact with the air traffic control and coordination of the Grand Harbour activities in order not to interrupt any commercial activities in the eventuality of shop arrivals with evacuees from Libya.

Tents will also be set up to accommodate any possible evacuees.

The government is also coordinating with other countries in the eventuality a ship hospital is required. Cutajar said further patients might be brought to Malta if needed.

Two Libyans in their twenties suffering from gunshot wounds were brought to Malta last night, and Cutajar said one of them is critical. No information on the two Libyans was available and it is unclear whether they were injured in the conflict.  

“On the other hand, we cannot divulge any other information to ensure the security of these patients,” he added.