La Salle job worries AD

Alternattiva Demokratika has expressed concern over the contract awarded to the Malta Drydocks by the United States Sixth fleet to repair the flagship USS La Salle.

International secretary Ralph Cassar said the regular repair of such military ships risks turning the clock back to the days when the dockyard was completely dependent on offering services to warships.

The fact that US President George Bush wrote a letter thanking the government for services offered to the Sixth fleet shows that there was a political dimension to the awarding of such contracts.

"Such a policy could erode Malta's policy of active neutrality within the European Union, especially in the light of the recent US invasion of Iraq, which was not sanctioned by the United Nations," Mr Cassar said.