Malta's Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in front of a ship evacuating foreigners from Libya

© Il-Gvern Ta'Malta/afrol News

afrol News, 19 March - Malta, Libya's closest European neighbour, denies its airport will be open for "any military strike against Libya" by the coalition preparing to implement the no-fly zone.

afrol News yesterday reported that ten nations already were ready to aid in an attack against the Ghaddafi regime, including Malta, which according to British military sources was among the main basis for British air operations against Libya.

Martin Bugelli for the Maltese Office of the Prime Minister today strongly denied this information in a protest note to afrol News.

"All references to Malta are incorrect as Malta is not hosting any military base, equipment or personnel for any military strike against Libya. These references are unfounded and have no basis of truth," Mr Bugelli stated.

Malta, a small island state in the Mediterranean and a European Union member, is the closest European neighbour to Libya, located only 350 kilometres north of Tripoli. This makes the country especially exposed to possible retaliation strikes by the pro-Ghaddafi air force.

The island's airport so far has been key in evacuation efforts by Western powers, with military aircrafts from, among other the UK, having taken off and returned on Valetta airport after evacuation operations in Libya.

For any military or humanitarian operations in Libya, Malta is strategically placed, but also exposed to counter-attacks.

The closest land bases in Europe for military strikes against the Ghaddafi regime therefore now are Italy and Greece, with the island of Crete lying very close to eastern Libya and Benghazi. Italy has already announced the opening of its bases and airports to the anti-Ghaddafi coalition. The support of Greece is still more uncertain.

Further away, France, with a special focus on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, and Spain have also allowed anti-Ghaddafi strikes to start from their airports.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Tweet

Printable version

On the Afrol News front page now

UN will not monitor human rights in Western Sahara afrol News - The US has backed down on its demand that UN peacekeepers in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara also shall monitor the human rights situation after Moroccan sources threatened to scale down relations with Washington. Read more

Central African Republic

Central African Republic falling apart afrol News - One month after the rebel movement Séléka took over power in the Central African Republic, unrest is spreading in the country. The new leader lacks control of his forces, which continue looting and abusing civilians. Read more

Kenya

Kenyatta secures tight victory in Kenya afrol News - The official election results in Kenya have finally been announced, and Uhuru Kenyatta managed to win the first poll round outright with a narrow 50.7 percent. But the main opponent, PM Raila Odinga, is filing a vote rigging complaint to the courts. Read more

Cape Verde Cape Verde to produce dragon fruit afrol News - Cape Verde authorities have invested large sums to diversify the arid country's agricultural sector. Now, the dragon fruit, originating in tropical America, is being introduced for the first commercial production in Africa. Read more

Egypt Even governors in Pharaonic Egypt died in their 20s afrol News - Researchers have analysed more than 200 mummies from ancient Egypt, finding that even high dignitaries were poorly nourished and had infectious diseases. The typical governor in Pharaonic Egypt died before he was 30 years old. Read more