Updated: 115 migrants heading for Malta

A group of 115 migrants is on its way to Malta after a large boat was intercepted by an AFM patrol boat earlier today. The boat had a broken propeller shaft. The migrants, all Somali, include some 30 women and 15 children. Somalis constitute the...

A group of 115 migrants is on its way to Malta after a large boat was intercepted by an AFM patrol boat earlier today. The boat had a broken propeller shaft.

The migrants, all Somali, include some 30 women and 15 children. Somalis constitute the largest group of migrants in Malta.

Their arrival follows the landing, on Sunday, of a boat carrying 262 migrants, which arrived at Marsaxlokk.

Libya-Italy agree on joint patrols

Meanwhile, Italian news agencies reported yesterday that Interior Minister Roberto Maroni had signed the protocol for the implementation of an agreement reached in December on cooperation on illegal immigration between Italy and Libya, which includes joint patrols in the Mediterranean.

The Italian minister said that Italian patrol boats which will be sent to Libya are currently in Gaeta.

He said he hoped illegal immigration would start to decrease by Easter."

Sig Maroni intends visiting other Mediterranean countries in the coming weeks to discuss illegal immigration.

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