Gonzi to meet Barroso 'in private' on Libya crisis, as mediation prospect looms

Diplomatic sources in Brussels have suggested that yesterday's unscheduled meeting between Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Gaddafi envoy Mohammed Taher Siyala, evolved around this possibility, however the Maltese government stands firm in its conviction that the violence must stop unconditionally.

Following the meeting, government has kept itself tight lipped on the contents of Gaddafi's message to the Maltese government, only stating that both sides discussed the situation in the North African country.

While Foreign Minister Tonio Borg has been away since Tuesday evening and held meetings in Rome with Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini and other high ranking diplomats in the Italian capital, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will fly out to Brussels this afternoon for what has been described as a ~private meeting" with the European Commission President Jose' Manoel Durao Barroso.

The meeting will be held a day before Gonzi joins the rest of EU member states heads of government that will meet in Brussels to discuss the Libya crisis.

EU sources have said that Malta is preoccupied at the prospect of it being caught up in the middle of a military offensive that will impose a no-fly zone over Libya.

Malta, a neutral country has already warned NATO member states that should the island be used militarily against Libya, they should "knock on other people's doors."

Meanwhile, Mohammed El-Huni, a member of the Libyan opposition's banking committee in Benghazi was quoted on the Financial Times saying: “We are afraid of Malta, it has good relations with the Gaddafi regime, we call it another province of Libya, rather than an independent state.”