Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/347048
Newspaper post WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDNESDAY •16 JULY 2014 • ISSUE 373 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY Editorial - PAGE 9 €0.90 TWO civilian Puma helicopters and a small Air Libya aircraft car- rying a total of 10 passengers landed in Malta after allegedly leaving the military airport of Mitiga, Libya. MaltaToday is informed that nine of the passengers are French, while the tenth is Maltese. Sources said "the group of workers" left Tripoli to escape the heav y fighting in the Libyan capital. Sources close to the aviation in- dustry said the aircraft f lew out of Libya "even though Libyan authori- ties have closed the airspace". The Ministry for Foreign Affairs was not in a position to confirm information related to the arrival of these aircraft from Libya, which landed in Malta at around 3pm. It has however confirmed that the Maltese government, through its representation in Libya, is in con- stant contact with the Maltese to offer any assistance they may re- quire. "No decision for evacuation has been taken," a spokeswoman said. The Air Libya aircraft landed 35 minutes after the arrival of the helicopters. It is still unclear whether Malta will be needed to assist in a possi- ble medical evacuation. Several rockets yesterday hit Tripoli, where fighting between ri- val armed groups has been raging since Sunday. Several Grad rockets struck the airport late on Monday, destroy- ing 90% of the planes parked there, including a $250 million Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330. In addition to the closure of Tripoli airport, Misrata city airport was also shut on Monday. This, along with the closure two months ago of Benghazi airport, leaves the country with only a land route to Tunisia. The Tripoli air control centre covering western Libya was closed because it was not safe for staff to go to work, aviation officials and state news agency Lana said on Monday. 'No decision yet' on evacuation of Maltese from Tripoli Two civilian Puma helicopters and a small Air Libya aircraft land in Malta after fresh attacks in Tripoli Attorney General appeals bail on Imniehru murders DANIEL MIZZI THE Attorney General has filed an appeal against a Criminal Court's decision to grant bail to the men suspected of commit- ting the double murder of Mario Camilleri 'l-Imniehru', and his 21-year-old son Mario Jnr. back in August 2013. Jason and George Galea, who are half brothers, were granted bail on July 4 by Magistrate Tonio Micallef Trigona against a per- sonal guarantee of €30,000 and a deposit of €30,000 each. Despite noting that the accusations are of a "serious and grave nature," the magistrate nevertheless granted bail arguing that since proceed- ings have been ongoing for a year and witnesses have been heard, the accused should be released until the main trial. Jason Galea was also granted bail for his alleged part in the murder of Valletta taxi-driver Matthew Zahra, whose remains were unearthed while police were digging for the bodies of the Camilleris. Sources told MaltaToday that the controversial bail was strong- ly opposed by the Attorney Gen- eral, who insisted that bail should be revoked "because of the seri- ous nature of the offence, and due to fear of absconding and relaps- ing." The decision was also objected by police, who requested the At- torney General to file an appeal against the decision. Senior police officials claimed that the decision to grant bail to Jason Galea might endanger Mario Camilleri's wife, Mona, after the latter had told court that Jason Galea wanted to murder her as well. CONTINUES PAGE 7 PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD