Labour 'wants to host possible terrorists'

Labour's MEPs came under fire from Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg yesterday for approving a resolution calling on EU member states to agree to host Guantanamo Bay inmates after the camp's closure.

Speaking at Paola, Dr Borg said the way they voted in the European Parliament showed inconsistency on the part of the Opposition which had often criticised the government for not doing enough to force the EU to share Malta's immigrant burden and now it wanted to host people who may be terrorists.

The PN's MEPs joined a small minority in the Parliament who voted against the resolution.

Dr Borg's comments come after a spokesman for the minister told The Sunday Times that the Cabinet had not yet discussed Malta's official position on the matter.

Nationalist MEPs Simon Busuttil and David Casa supported an amendment urging the US to "refrain from applying pressure on EU member states to take inmates against a member state's will".

The two lashed out at Labour MEPs Louis Grech, John Attard Montalto and Glenn Bedingfield for accepting the part which calls on EU member states to consider taking some inmates from Guantanamo.

Labour's chief MEP, Mr Grech, had defended the vote by saying that like the majority of European parliamentarians, he felt it would have rendered the resolution on Guantanamo meaningless if it were approached from a narrow, insular "right-wing perspective", adding that Malta would not be affected anyway.

Dr Borg yesterday also criticised the PL's choice of candidates for the upcoming MEP elections. He pointed out that two of them had been in the forefront against EU accession. Although not mentioning them by name, he was referring to PL international secretary Alex Scibberas Trigona and Sharon Ellul Bonici.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who also addressed the meeting, reacted to articles in Malta Today and Kullħadd which reported that he had decided to appoint MEP Simon Busutil to replace Malta's Permanent Representative in Brussels, Richard Cachia Caruana, who in turn would replace European Commissioner Joe Borg.

"I take decisions. I am the Prime Minister," he said adding that certain media and the Opposition were trying to distract the public from more important issues such as quality of life, environment and employment.

Moving on to employment, he said the government was constantly monitoring the situation and was studying how to help the 200 ST Microelectronics employees who were expected to lose their job.

He called on people to look ahead courageously, adding that during recent visits to Germany and Prague a number of companies had shown interest in investing in Malta.