A government employee whose exact job Prime Minister Joseph Muscat claimed not to know has actually been working for the Prime Minister’s office for the past seven months.

Dr Muscat admitted in a PQ that Neville Gafà has been working for his office since January 2019.

Mr Gafà hit the headlines several years ago after facing accusations of facilitating a Libyan medical visa racket.

When asked about Mr Gafà’s latest foray to Libya last month, Dr Muscat claimed not to known which ministry he works for.

“I do not know what his contract says and I don't have it on me at the moment,” the Prime Minister had said in replies to questions by the Times of Malta.

He was employed by the Prime Minister’s office just one month after the government denied that Mr Gafà had acted as a special representative for Dr Muscat during a December Libya trip, which also featured a meeting with a warlord.

Haithem Tajouri had been singled out in a 2016 UN Security Council report as being at the helm of one of Libya’s most powerful paramilitary groups, believed to be involved in a series of human rights violations. According to the report, Mr Tajouri set up a private detention centre, where former regime officials and sympathisers were held.

He extorted large sums of money from visitors and the facility was linked to several disappearances and cases of alleged torture, the UN said.

A follow-up security report had delved into allegations of “Mafia-style extortion rackets” run by the armed groups of Tripoli, including that led by Mr Tajouri.