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No conclusions yet from security investigators

The Armed Forces is still investigating the incidents televised during the Bondicini programme of the 25 September, which showed Lou Bondi breaking into the AFM headquarters and the airport control tower.

Replying to questions put by MaltaToday, the AFM said that the internal investigation is ongoing. "Obviously, we have no comment to make at this stage," the statement concluded.

Bondicini, following hot on the heels of the September 11 terror attacks in America, shocked the nation when it highlighted lapses in security at strategic locations around Malta. The footage embarrassed the authorities but as yet, nobody has come out shouldering responsibility for the incidents.

The authorities have promised that investigations are underway but observers are sceptical as to whether heads will roll, since history has shown that the more common course of events is for such embarrassments to die a natural death.

Reacting to the televised incidents, the Broadcasting Authority has issued a call for tenders for the provision of guarding and security services for its Gharghur Transmitting Tower. The tower, which is a highly sensitive area because all television and radio stations transmit from there, was one of Lou Bondi’s targets.

Mr Bondi managed to clamber over a fence and place the fake bomb just beneath the structure while a watchman was sitting in his room, possibly dozing or at best, relaxing.

Meanwhile, the programme producer denied the statement made by Education Minister Louis Galea in Parliament that the Bondicini team had been stopped near the Mnajdra temple before proceeding to Hagar Qim.

Dr Galea said in Parliament that the Mnajdra watchman had stopped the Bondicini TV crew near Mnajdra before they moved on to the Hagar Qim temple, which is only a few hundred metres away.

Mr Bondi denied the claim and said that the team had wanted to enter Hagar Qim, which they succeeded in doing. The producer added that they managed to access all planned locations without being caught.

"Had we been caught we would have televised the incident as well because that is serious journalism," Mr Bondi concluded.