Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1213458
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 FEBRUARY 2020 NEWS "I don't know. I do not question my superiors, I on- ly obey orders. I was asked to help and that is what I did. Could there have been reluctance by diplomats and ministers to go to Libya? I don't know. What I know for sure is that we would have had a national crisis had this unofficial channel not existed," Gafà says. The comfort of Kenneth Camilleri He explains that maintaining contacts in Libya re- quired him to travel often to the country to meet the people in authority. "What I did was risky but I had to go up and meet them because that is how you maintain good relations in Libya. There has to be personal contact for people to trust you," he insists. On every trip, he took Kenneth Camilleri with him. Camilleri was part of the Prime Minister's security detail and has been mentioned in court proceedings linked to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. "I used to ask Kenneth whether he was willing to come with me because his presence gave me comfort. After all, we were not visiting Ibiza," Gafà says. I suggest that the Libyans could not have done this simply as a favour for Malta. They would have asked for something. What was Malta offering them? Malta had treated Libyan patients Gafà shrugs off the question and answers calmly. "Malta offered them nothing because Malta had already helped out in June 2014 when Mitiga airport was attacked and many people were injured," he says. Gafà says that at the time, Malta had brought over many injured Libyans for treatment at Mater Dei Hospi- tal and Saint James Hospital. He says that between June and December 2014, Liby- an patients, some of them with gunshot injuries, were brought over for treatment by air ambulance that was paid for by the Libyan authorities. "I was responsible for at least 153 evacuations of Liby- an patients that required urgent treatment. Malta's help was noted by the Libyans and they remained thankful for it," he says. Medical visas racket: 'I was investigated' In his first major controversy, Gafà faced accusations that he had extorted money from Libyans for the issu- ance of medical visas. The former OPM official denies the allegations. "I was never accused by the Libyan government or Lib- yan authorities of any abuse. I have travelled to Libya many times and continue to do so. I was never denied a visa or stopped from travelling because of some accusa- tions…" I cut him short and remind him that he had a diplo- matic passport, which could have possibly afforded him immunity. "Although I had a diplomatic passport, I only used it once, last summer, when I travelled to Libya with the Maltese ambassador. I always used my personal passport and never had any problem," Gafà replies. He also shuns claims that he benefitted from impunity, saying that police had interrogated him for many hours when the allegations surfaced. "I also had my office searched. They lifted all papers, in- cluding sticky notes, and yet I was never charged. There was no impunity as some want to suggest," Gafà says. He insists the accusation of wrongdoing only came from one person who is not even Libyan. Gafà says the Libyan embassy in Malta had filed a po- lice report about this person, accusing him of falsifying documents. "To my knowledge, the police have yet to proceed on the report," he adds. Gafà insists it was never his job to authorise the issu- ance of visas. The Libyan patients, accompanied by one relative, would be granted a visa upon arrival in Malta. "Patients would be given a visa without charge, which was part of an arrangement we found in place from the Gonzi administration and which we continued to hon- our. But the relative would pay €66 and be issued a visa," Gafà explains. That secret meeting with a Libyan warlord I raise another controversy Gafà was involved in when media reports last December revealed that he held a meeting with Libyan warlord Haithem Tajouri. Tajouri, who leads the Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade, was subjected to UN sanctions, following accusations of human rights violations. Gafà had told Times of Malta that he "bumped into" Tajouri while in Tripoli but no official explanation of the meeting, or the Libya visit, was ever given. He tells me that the meeting with Tajouri was for the purposes of "national security". Gafà refuses to elaborate but insists Tajouri also had meetings with officials from other countries. "I met Mr Tajouri more than once, just like the French and Italian authorities met him. I also met other militia leaders. Tajouri has one of the largest militias… these militias control the territory in Libya and it is important to maintain contact with them," he says. I point out that Tajouri was subjected to UN sanctions, which would have put Malta in an embarrassing posi- tion. "That is true but the Italians and the French met him, why not Malta? Sanctions should apply to all or to none. Let's face it, the US ambassador recently met General Haftar, who is accused of being a war criminal," Gafà says. Evacuation of Maltese injured by gunshot I ask him whether his job as a fixer of sorts with Libya was worth it. "It was worth it for the country. It wasn't for me and I paid the price," he replies in his usual calm tone. He recounts several instances when he was involved in the evacuation of Maltese from Libya, which was possi- ble because of his contacts. One case involved a Maltese national who took a gun- shot to the head. The foreign ministry, he says, had been trying for five hours to get him out of Libya but they could not trace the hospital he was in. "The ministry contacted me for help and in four hours, I located the man and he was back in Malta on the oper- ating table at Mater Dei. He survived. That is the work I did," he says. Gafà says there were countless other evacuations in- volving Maltese families, including Bishop George Buge- ja, whom he twice helped to leave Tripoli. "To this day, I continue to check on Maltese families who live in Libya to see if they are OK," Gafà says. Recovering payments owed I ask him whether the Libyans expected Malta to close an eye on illegal arms trading or possibly oil smuggling. "No. What I did had absolutely nothing to with oil or anything else. I dealt with migration issues and at a later stage was involved in trying to retrieve payments owed to Mater Dei Hospital and Saint James Hospital from the Libyan government," Gafà replies. He says that through his intervention, Mater Dei Hos- pital managed to recover €400,000 and Saint James Hos- pital recovered €625,000. There are another €1.5 million in outstanding payments, he adds. "In July 2019, during the Libya visit with the Maltese ambassador, we also presented them with outstanding payments owed to Maltese companies," Gafà says. He adds that after his resignation last January all con- tact with the Maltese government was severed and he has not been spoken to or approached for help. Gafà comes across as a loyal servant, who would do the job assigned to him with no questions asked. He insists he never did anything wrong and does not regret his ac- tions. But he does have one remorse: "I regret dragging my family into this because they suffered while I was sub- jected to all those accusations." No longer in government employ, he has now broken his silence to defend his name. Why did it have to be him and not the ambassador, a diplomat or ministers, to broker such an arrangement, I ask. "I don't know. I do not question my superiors, I only obey orders" Loyal servant: Gafà has worked with the Muscat administration as an unofficial envoy to Libya, and has sworn loyalty to Joseph Muscat's former chief- of-staff Keith Schembri, a person of interest in the investigation on the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia who allegedly alerted mastermind Yorgen Fenech, his business partner, of impending arrests of the three men who executed the journalist. "I don't know how to answer you on the AFM. I have good relations with the Libyans and my word counts. There is a cultural attitude where trust has to be earned and once it is, they will always respect you" Meeting Libyan warlord Haithem Tajouri (left): "I met Mr Tajouri more than once, just like the French and Italian authorities met him. I also met other militia leaders. Tajouri has one of the largest militias… these militias control the territory in Libya and it is important to maintain contact with them"