Prime Minister dispels rumours of 'imminent terrorist attack' on Malta

The government has received no information purporting Malta to be the target of a terrorist attack, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this evening.

In a recorded interview which appeared on Times Talk, the Prime Minister said the government was monitoring everything and rumours that went on the Internet over the past week were “exaggerated”.

Muscat dispelled rumours that went round on social media last week that a ship with armed people had made its way towards Malta: “Everything is possible but we have no such information … and it’s highly unlikely it would happen this way.”

His comments came in wake of internet rumours and unsourced reports that ISIS was planning a new attack on Europe and that Italy, Spain and Malta were to be targets of such attack. The comments have since been described as “propaganda”.

A spokesperson for Defence Minister Carmelo Abela this evening told MaltaToday that there was no need to be alarmist and precautions being taken by the disciplined forces were simply in line with what other European states were doing.

Last week, members of the Armed Forces of Malta stationed in key places such as airports and seaports were asked to be more vigilant.

The Prime Minister said the Maltese authorities were keeping their eyes open because of the geopolitical situation in the Mediterranean and the attacks that took place in bigger countries such as in France.

“What is worrying Europe and the rest of the world is that these attacks are being carried out on soft targets: a grocer because of its affiliation with the Jews; a newspaper because of its provocative caricatures,” he said.

Muscat added that extremism could take various forms and it would also be naïve to think that extremists simply only entered a country by boat.

“They could pass through Schengen area, or be EU passport holders. They could enter a country in any legal means and this is why the European Council will be seeing how to strengthen controls and increase intelligence sharing.”

Meanwhile, a number of aircrafts belonging to the Royal Air Force – an airbus A330 tanker and four Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoons – landed in Malta late on Tuesday evening.

A government spokesperson told MaltaToday that the landings had nothing to do with the current crisis in Libya or IS offensive.

“The request for diplomatic clearance from the UK was made early in January for aircraft to land in Malta in transit to a third country. The necessary clearance to land in Malta in February was issued mid-January,” a government spokesperson told MaltaToday.

The aircraft of the Royal Air Force will be making its way to the Gulf on Thursday.