Dom Mintoff with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Photo: Frank Attard

The Italian government feared former prime minister Dom Mintoff could have been colluding with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to use Malta as a naval base, according to a recently declassified US document.

The 1977 microfilm telegram, quoting an Italian consultant and uploaded on Wikileaks, reads: “It is not inconceivable that (Gaddafi) plans to utilise Maltese port facilities for his own growing navy.”

This, the document continues, would underscore the kind of military neutrality the late Mr Mintoff had in mind for the island and the type of relationship he had with the Libyan dictator.

The secret message was sent by then American Ambassador in Italy, Richard Gardner, to the US Secretary of State and summarises a secret meeting held with a consultant to the Italian Ministry of Defence.

The meeting had focused almost exclusively on Maltese relations with Libya.

The Italian consultant, referred to as Dr Bassano, describes Mr Mintoff as a “hip-shooter who plays to the gallery”.

The US ambassador, meanwhile, sketches his own caricature of the controversial Maltese Prime Minister.

“Mintoff’s notion that with a country of 300,000 people he could be a mover of world events is in itself ridiculous,” he said in the telegram.

Despite this, the Italians remained wary of Mr Mintoff’s relationship with Col Gaddafi.

Mr Gardener told Secretary of State Cyrus Vance that the Italian government felt “the strategic location of Malta gave Mintoff the capacity for mischief” that could not be ignored.

A military base on Malta was not the only mischief the Italians suspected Mr Mintoff of brewing.

The telegram reveals how the Italian Ministry of Defence had also suspected Col Gaddafi of using Malta to thwart plans for a US military base on the Italian island of Pantelleria.

This, the message says, could have been done by Col Gaddafi funding Maltese land acquisitions on the island’s eastern coast, close to an area earmarked for a UN/US base in the region.

At the time, Col Gaddafi had pledged total support for Maltese neutrality but many suspected this was geared towards protecting his own military interests.

It was, however, unclear what the two leaders were planning, the telegram says.

“The greatest difficulty of all was trying to discover what Mintoff really wanted or would settle for, and what (Gaddafi) was up to,” Mr Gardener wrote.

The former prime minister, however, did not only enjoy a relationship with the North African State, but he also expected assistance from his European counterparts, Mr Gardener said.

The telegram explains how Mr Mintoff wanted Italy, France and Germany to subsidise Maltese unemployment to the tune of $10,000 per worker, a proposition described as “outrageous” by the US ambassador.

This was not the only Maltese request to raise American eyebrows. The telegram also reveals how Mr Mintoff expected European countries to use their military strength to intervene in case Malta was under threat.

Mintoff’s notion that with a country of 300,000 people he could be a mover of world events is in itself ridiculous

This, Mr Gardener said, was described by the Italian government as “an absurd idea, certainly incompatible with Mintoff’s notion of Maltese neutrality”.

Mr Mintoff turned to other nations for support, provided they accepted the terms of Malta’s neutrality status, as he attempted to renegotiate the British and Nato defence agreement in the 1970s.

According to British diplomatic records declassified in 2002, the US had expressed “great concern” over the possible development of a Soviet navy or military base in Malta in the event of British and Nato forces leaving the island – even though Mr Mintoff had consistently maintained that he wanted the island to stay out of the clutches of world powers.