A report into allegations of spying activities by a Maltese diplomat in Tripoli during the 1971 Labour administration did not conclude that Mr Ives De Barro was a “mole” servicing British interests. Mr De Barro denied having revealed “any damaging information to anyone 38 years ago”.
The report was laid on the Table of the House by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in answer to a question by Alfred Sant (PL).
The investigation emanated after local press reports last April based on confidential documents relating to a particular file at the UK Foreign Office. This file, made public in 2002, contained information collected between June and December 1971 at a time when a dispute had arisen between the Uk and Malta which threatened the closure of the British military base in Malta. Besides, the Maltese government was seeking Libyan financial assistance during the same period.
In a memorandum to the Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Cecilia Attard Pirotta, permanent secretary at the Foreign Affairs Ministry said that “indeed, from all the information gathered, there was not much to report on any deals – secret or otherwise – between the Maltese and Libyan governments, revealed to a country, the UK, with which Malta was in dispute at the time”.
She quoted a September 1971 communication from 10 Downing Street that lamented that “the (British) Prime Minister has noticed from the telegrams that it has not so far been possible to obtain much information from Tripoli about Mr Mintoff’s discussions with Libyan ministers”.
In his defence, Mr De Barro, then Chargé d’Affairs ad interim at the time, said the local press reports amounted to “character assassination” and contained “an element of spin and sensationalism together with repetition of the cherry-picking”. He did not deny the substance of the information recorded in the file.
Ms Attard Pirotta said that “from the records released by the Public Records Office in the UK, it does not transpire that Mr De Barro had regular or systematic meetings with British Embassy staff in Tripoli.”
She concludes that “his deception... as a mole or spy, is not correct”.
Dr Gonzi said the government had accepted the conclusions and the recommendations made by Ms Attard Pirotta.