Gaddafi sends envoy to Malta and meets with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi

Updated with correction to title at 3:44pm.

Taher Siyala was served as an envoy of Col. Gaddafi who has embarked on a diplomatic blitz in Europe and in the Middle East, as private jets were scrambled from Tripoli to Cairo, Valletta, Lisbon, Paris and Brussels with a message to the Arab League, the European Union and Nato.

According to a statement issued by the Maltese government, Siyala explained the Libyan government’s position on the recent events in the North African country, while Prime Minister Gonzi reiterated the Maltese government’s position and insisted that all violence in Libya has to stop immediately.

Siyala later left Malta for a meeting in Lisbon with the Portuguese foreign Minister Luis Amado.

A statement issued by the Portuguese foreign ministry explained that the informal meeting - held in a hotel in the Portuguese capital - was intended to inform Amado about what is happening in the North African country. The meeting was arranged in agreement with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and was part of preparations for a meeting of EU foreign ministers later this week to discuss the situation in Libya, the ministry said.

Another aircraft is in Paris with a delegation that is asking to see French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and has already advised that its next flight will proceed to Brussels as a formal request has reportedly been made to meet with High Representative Catherine Ashton.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will however meet Mahmoud Jibril and Ali Essaoui, envoys of Libya's rebel National Council, on Thursday. Sarkozy and the envoys will discuss the "general situation in Libya, in particular the humanitarian situation and the actions of the National Council," a statement from the French president's office said.

Earlier, another jet carrying Libyan deputy defence minister, Abdelrahman al-Zawi, landed in Cairo for talks with Egyptian government officials and the Arab League..

Earlier

Al Jazeera this morning reported that three of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s private planes had taken off from a military airstrip near Tripoli. At least one of them has landed in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. The other two were directed towards Vienna, while the one departing from Malta has left for Portugal.

MaltaToday has established that the Bombardier Global 5000, callsign 5A-UAC, departed from Malta earlier today. MIA staff said the private jet had already left Malta, but then refused to confirm the time of departure.

The plane was originally scheduled to be on its way to Athens.

The Bombardier is the property of United Aviation, which is a business jet operator owned by Libyan Airlines and Afriqiyah Airways. Both airlines are grouped under Libyan African Aviation Holding Company. LAAHC is owned by four government entities: the Libyan National Social Fund (30%), Libyan National Investment Company (30%), Libya-Africa Investment Fund - previously the owner of Afriqiyah Airways - (25%), and the Libyan Foreign Investment Company (15%).

United Aviation also owns the Dassault Falcon 900, which recently engaged with Malta air traffic control on its way from Minsk, in Belarus.

On March 5, a NATO Awacs controlling the Libyan airspace requested Malta air traffic control if it had any information on the Gaddafi jet 5A-DCN. The answer from Malta was that “it should be a Falcon 900, at FL340, with destination Mitiga, according to Flight Plan”.

Given that there is no active no-fly zone or any embargo on the Libyan jets, the Libyan aircraft can still fly ‘freely’ outside its home country, provided that proper diplomatic clearance is issued to cross the flight information region.

Senior Libyan official Abdelrahman al-Zawi, a member of embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi’s inner circle, landed in Cairo this afternoon, an airport official told AFP. Major General Zawi, who is responsible for logistics and supplies, arrived in Cairo on board a Libyan private plane.

AFP also had reports of a plane belonging to Gaddafi with unknown passengers on board had crossed into Greek airspace en route to Egypt on Wednesday. “A private plane of Gaddafi has crossed Greek airspace en route to Egypt,” a Greek defence ministry source told AFP, adding: “We do not know who is on board.