I refer to Stanley Portelli's letter (August 27) in reply to my letter of August 22.

Dr Portelli, unfortunately, is mixing up the complications of the alleged nature of the cargo on the vessel with the crime committed by the hijackers.

A crime was committed on the high seas and the hijackers must be tried in Malta under Maltese law for hijacking and not on account of its cargo; unless, of course, Dr Portelli thinks that hijacking is not a crime.

The international complications have arisen because of the speculation that the vessel was carrying secret cargo and, hence, the reason why there is an ongoing diplomatic exchange between the countries concerned and the many experts involved, which is quite understandable.

But here I am talking about a crime committed by people on a vessel flying the Maltese flag. There are no two ways about it: the hijackers must be tried in Malta or else in Sweden if the hijacking was carried out in their territorial waters.

Dr Portelli also conveniently left unanswered the question I asked about the magisterial inquiry, which should be independent of the internal investigations carried out by MMA.

I am still awaiting a reply.