Government cautious of Libyan repercussions until all Maltese are evacuated from Libya

The Maltese government is treading a fine line in the way it deals with the surge of violence and government repression in Libya, until it manages to extract all Maltese citizens out of cities like Benghazi and other villages in the Libyan desert.

Government sources clarified a cautious stand taken by Malta and Italy during the European Council on sanctions against Libya, saying that the two countries told member states any sanctions should take a “gradual process” until all EU citizens had been evacuated from the country.

There were denials from these same sources of media reports that Aisha Gaddafi was on a Libyan Arab Airlines commercial plane carrying 14 passengers, that had been refused permission to land in Malta earlier Wednesday. “We have no indications that there was Gaddafi’s daughter on the plane,” the sources said.

Earlier, MaltaToday had reported that Aisha Gaddafi had been named as one of the passengers on the plane that was requesting permission to land in Malta. The same sources denied Al Jazeera reports that the Libyan ambassador to Malta had attempted to “negotiate” some form of permission for the plane to land.

MaltaToday is reliably informed that Aisha Gaddafi’s presence on the plane had been communicated to the Office of the Prime Minister. But claims that the plane was running out of fuel have been denied by certain government sources.

Reports of Libyan warships that had approached Maltese waters were also denied. The sources said there had been no confirmation that Italian coast-guard was monitoring the warships.

One of the government’s main concerns at the moment is the repercussions on Maltese nationals stranded in Libya and other Maltese interests there, if any diplomatic sleight provokes the ire of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who retains administrative control of part of his country. Concerns by Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini of a ‘biblical wave’ of migrants fleeing Libya – which has a foreign population of 2 million – are also shared by the Maltese government.

Some 361 Maltese companies are involved in exporting business to Libya, which is valued at over €100 million. Malta imports €33 million in goods from the oil-rich nation.

The two fighter-jet pilots who landed in Malta earlier on Monday remain in custody of the authorities, and their application for asylum is to be processed in accordance with Maltese asylum law. They will enjoy the protection of the Maltese state as long as until they are awarded some form of international protection or not.

There are currently 183 Maltese nationals who have contacted the government helpline asking to be extracted out of Libya. Of this number, 83 remain spread around Libya. 19 of them are in Benghazi, where contact has been made with them.

Another eight nationals were reported to be in desert outposts, where the work in the oil industry. A private jet is to be chartered for the extraction of another eight nationals from the city of Waha.

With Malta doubling up as a logistical base for the extraction of many foreign workers in Libya, the government has negotiated the embarkation of some Maltese nationals aboard a Chinese flotilla that will set sail for Benghazi. The Chinese government is chartering numerous vessels, including from Malta, to evacuate 35,000 Chinese workers in Libya.

Another four Maltese nationals have been allowed to board the US-chartered catamaran that set sail earlier today for Tripoli. But the bad weather at the port could mean the catamaran sails to Djerba, in Tunisia, to then continue its voyage to Malta.

Other countries like the UK, Zambia, Brazil and Austria have asked for Maltese assistance in their evacuation efforts. The government will be issuing emergency entry visas to these nationals, so that they can transit to Malta.