Security Services say Galea was abducted

No signs of physical violence found on former AFM captain who spent 10 days as hostage to unidentified Libyan militia

Martin Galea. Photo: James Galea
Martin Galea. Photo: James Galea

The Malta Security Services have concluded that Martin Galea, the former AFM captain, was abducted by an unknown Libyan militia or gang, principal permanent secretary Mario Cutajar told the press today.

Cutajar said that other persons, Libyan nationals included, were interviewed on the incident.

“To date it is clear that he was abducted, but so far he has been unable to identity his captors. The interviews continue to piece the jigsaw together,” Cutajar said.

Cutajar said interviews with people related to the incident will continue to establish the exact whereabouts of where the kidnapping took place, in a bid to establish who was responsible for the abduction.

Cutajar also said that a medical check-up had shown no exterior signs of physical violence on him, except for “a few scratches and sweat sores” that prove Galea, an employee for oil firm Nageco who was based in Tripoli, was in a humid place.

“His account is not being put into doubt,” Cutajar said.

The statements, delivered in a briefing to the press, come five days after Galea was brought to Malta back from Libya on Monday, after having spent some 10 days in captivity.

The government also said it had no comment to make on Galea's version of his ordeal as relayed to the press. "We're not clear on who handed Galea over to the embassy - it might have been his captors, or other interlocutors or their contacts," government spokesperson Kurt Farrugia said.

A Libyan national, Khaled Ebrahim, who says he was asked by Maltese envoy Mannie Galea to intervene in the former army captain’s rescue, has claimed that Martin Galea was found within the space of one day after a militia leader from the Zintani brigade, Ayman al Madan, found out that he had been taken in by a militia or gang in the Warshefana tribal area.

On his part, Martin Galea has claimed he was threatened by his Libyan captors, forced to beat himself with a wooden stick that had spikes in it, and that he had gunshots fired over his head deliberately.

On Wednesday, the government was unwilling to categorically state that Galea had been abducted. “We were still evaluating the situation, and the word ‘abduction’ was used by the media,” OPM spokesperson Kurt Farrugia said. “We always made it clear that the government never had direct contact with whoever took him,” he said.

Evacuations

A total of 64 people were evacuated today to Malta from Libya, comprising five Maltese nationals, 25 EU nationals, and 32 non-EU nationals on two flights carrying 32 persons each.

There are still over 100 Maltese nationals in Libya at this stage.

Three patients who were medically evacuated on Wednesday have already been discharged, while four other patients are in intensive care, two of which are in danger of dying; and another four are placed in hospital wards.

The European Union has now issued a travel notice to nationals to leave immediately the country, and is organizing land convoys out of Libya to Tunisia and Egypt.

1,000 Filipinos and another 900 Chinese nationals have been evacuated to Malta, although it is unclear if they will be disembarking here or staying on board their ships before shipping out again.