Libya ready to discuss oil drilling
Libya is prepared to discuss oil exploration with Malta in zones adjacent to the two countries’ maritime frontiers, Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo said yesterday.
Experts from both countries will be meeting here in April to try and identify opportunities for cooperation, reopening a delicate project Libya last ruled out in January 2004.
Speaking during a news conference at the end of a “successful” joint-committee meeting between Libya and Malta, Dr Frendo said the two sides were determined to find agreement over sea areas of dispute.
Up till now, all Maltese attempts at striking oil in commercial quantities, onshore and offshore, ended in disappointment.
At one time, the drive had even led to a serious squabble with Libya over drilling offshore. Libya had gone as far as sending gunboats to the Medina Bank to drive off an Italian company holding a Maltese concession there.
Since then, efforts at striking oil offshore had gone on in various areas, including a concession close to a profitable Italian oilfield.
In the presence of several officials involved in the joint-committee, Dr Frendo listed several initiatives he said would serve to strengthen relations between the two countries. Among others, the countries agreed that a Libyan delegation will visit the island next month to discuss pending payments.
The problem of illegal immigration was evidently highon the agenda in the first meeting since Malta’s EU membership.
In June, Malta will host experts from both countries to discuss a cooperation agreement, though details are still sketchy.
Dr Frendo underlined, however that, contrary to perception, Libya was not trying to export the problem of illegal immigration.
The Libyan Ambassador to Malta, Saad Elshalmani, said that despite criticism, his country had stepped up its efforts to stem illegal immigration.
“We have returned thousands. If we didn’t do so, the problem would have been much worse,” he told reporters.
Malta and Libya have also agreed to appoint workers specialising in search and rescue. By June, Libya is expected to give its reaction to a draft cooperation agreement about the matter drawn up by Malta.
A plan of action will be drawn up for the prevention of marine pollution.
Malta has drawn up another draft agreement to facilitate the transport of vehicles between the two countries, which could be signed by May, while Air Malta and Libyan Arab Airways will be servicing Malta and Benghazi from summer.
Another agreement was signed covering cooperation in information and culture for the next two years.
In the health sector, the two countries agreed to exchange information in the fight against avian flu and the pandemic.
They also agreed to set up a working group to look into past agreements and identify those that needed updating. The first meeting will take place in Libya in May.
Asked whether he was optimistic that most of the discussions will come through, considering Libya’s characteristic procrastination, Dr Frendo said he believed this time things will be different.
“We don’t have open-ended matters. We have datelines and tangible matters,” he smiled.
Source: www.timesofmalta.com