Online poll | 72% fear Malta could be threatened by ISIS

An overwhelming majority of respondents to an online poll carried by MaltaToday.com.mt expressed unease at the presence of Islamic State forces in neighbouring country Libya.

72% (1,544) of the participants fear that Malta could be threatened while only 12% (250) think that there is no real threat to Europe.

15% of the respondents – 341 – feel reassured that the West will take action in Libya.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat once again reassured that the Maltese had nothing to fear so far, even though it was important to remain vigilant.

“I promise you that I’ll personally inform the nation, as is my responsibility, in the eventuality of a real threat to Malta. Right now, we have no information of Malta being the target of any forces,” Muscat reiterated last night on Xarabank, also ruling out the possibility of missiles fired from Libya reaching Malta.

The PM was replying to questions raised by host Peppi Azzopardi and fielding questions by the public.

Muscat explained that the goal of the Islamic State was to instil fear and create chaos. He said, that the authorities were on the alert and countries shared and coordinated information.

Insisting that ISIS affiliates should not be confused with Muslims, Muscat expressed concern over “small groups” who do not form part of the local Muslim community and who do not follow the teachings of Imam Mohamed El Sadi.

“They feel that Imam is too soft … we have already warned them that we will not accept anyone who attempts to promote hatred, whether its against Islam, Catholics or other religions.”

The PM admitted that it was worrying that while the warring factions in Libya continued with their arguments, IS forces were slowly gaining found.

“We are taking precautions. When ISIS took over Sirte, the Services informed us that IS militants had taken over government offices where passports were printed.

“We have now stopped a diplomatic agreement we had with Libya and we are now vetting every Libyan that comes to Malta as they must first apply for a visa.”

Muscat reiterated that the two rival parliaments in Libya had to come together for Libya to achieve strong security.

Malta was in contact with both the Tobruk-based House of Representatives and the Tripoli parliament. It however recognised the Tobruk government as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

Muscat insisted that both sides had to come together, form a national unity government and turn to the United Nations in seeking support on making Libya a safer country.

In reply to questions by the public, the PM said he was more worried about the people that came in through the Schenghen area, rather than irregular migrants.

“Irregular migrants spend months in detention and we scan them. If they come with any plans, we’d find out. What worries me and the rest of the EU prime ministers is the people that come through the Schenghen area, without any vetting.

“We have now agreed to start adopting a number of security measure. It is not about denying the opportunities of passport-free movement but it’s a matter of security.”

Muscat recalled how the attacks that took place in France and Denmark were carried out by French and Danish nationals, born and bred in the respective countries.

Muscat said he disagreed with the media attention given to ISIS, arguing that it was a way of giving IS the satisfaction of knowing they were gaining viewership.

“No one heard of the killing of a Filipino in Libya last week because it was not filmed. Yet, these have invested in filming equipment and direct their productions so more people watch them,” he said.

He also down played the recent vandal attacks that took place in Qrendi where two bus stages and a chapel were vandalised with graffiti reading “Death to Christians” and “Allah”, written incorrectly in Arabic.

“Whoever wrote it did not know how to write Allah in Arabic. Perhaps we are reading too much into it. I’d expect a foreign to make a mistake in the use of English not in his mother tongue,” Muscat said.