Mintoff looks to Arabs for aid

Press, 4 July 1978, Page 8

Mintoff looks to Arabs for aid

|NZPA-Reuter Valletta (Malta) The Prime Minister of Malta (Mr Dom Mintoff) has said that he will look exclusively to the Arabs for (economic help when British (bases finally close on March 31 next year, unless Europeans stop bickering over (his island State.

Pointedly, he made the -statement at a mass rally also addressed by Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, the Libyan leader, who is a State guest. Mr Mintoff said that Italy and France, with Algeria and Libya, had been asked to guarantee the Maltese economy after the British moved out, ending a 178year presence in the island.

The Libyans and Algerians had agreed to do so, but the Europeans were bickering and unless they soon reached a decision he would seek agreement with the Arab countries alone. Colonel Gadaffi criticised the British, and asked the audience what Malta had ever got from the British ekcept bombs. Malta was heavily bombed by the Axis Powers in World War 11, when it was a vital Britisfh base in the Mediterranean. Colonel Gadiffi said that Libya would never establish bases on Malta, but was ready to defend it against attack, to train the Maltese, and to supply them with weapons.