African Intelligence/africanintelligence.com

27 May 2004

MALTA IS LIBYA’S NEW MOUTHPIECE IN BRUSSELS

Only a month after joining the European Union, Malta has stepped ahead of Italy as Libya’s prime champion in Brussels. Malta foreign minister John Dalli is doing his utmost to see that Europe lifts its arms embargo on Tripoli.

He also travelled to Washington to intervene in compensation talks between Libya and American oil companies whose interests were nationalized by Muammar Kadhafi in the 1970s.

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Now, when we put things into the context of all we have learned since, we have to wonder why John Dalli did this. Was he pursuing Malta’s interests or his own?

The Gaddafi regime did not distinguish between business and politics. Business was controlled by key figures in the regime, who got involved and took a cut. They would have seen nothing strange about politicians from Malta doing the same thing. That might be why Karmenu Vella – until recently chairman of a LAFICO-owned group of companies – got a lift home on Gaddafi’s private jet with Joseph Muscat last August.