Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/354989
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 30 JULY 2014 7 News From investigated officer to heroine MIRIAM DALLI MALTESE Consul Marisa Farrugia returned as a heroine from Tripoli after Martin Galea, the Maltese oil worker reported missing in Libya, staunchly attributed his safe return to her intervention. Galea is now back in the safety of his home at Bidnija after spending Monday night in hospital under observation. The latest brush with adventure in Libya was in fact the second in his life – he was involved in another episode in 2011, in the Libyan revolution. Galea, allegedly abducted in Tripoli some 12 days ago, landed on Maltese soil on Monday evening at 8.47, escorted by six AFM soldiers and the Maltese consul. Dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, Galea, a former AFM captain, looked surprisingly well for the ordeal he reportedly went through. MaltaToday understands that Galea is not yet ready to meet the media and also needs to be de- briefed by the Malta Security Serv- ices chief, Michael Cassar. "I am happy to be back home safe and sound. But my safe return home didn't depend on me but on the efforts of the Maltese govern- ment and that of consul Marisa Farrugia… she saved my life," Galea said in his first comments, stand- ing next to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and turning to look towards Farrugia who was standing behind them. Galea and Farrugia were wel- comed at the runway of the Malta International Airport by the Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella, Home Affairs Min- ister Manuel Mallia and MSS head Michael Cassar. The Maltese Consul was greeted by a shaking of the hands by the Prime Minister, and a warm hug by the Foreign Affairs Minister. In May, the seasoned diplomat was called back to Malta for urgent po- lice questioning over alleged fraud in the issuance of visas from Malta's embassy in Tripoli. Two months ago, MaltaToday reported that investigations into the alleged fraud took place after a number of Maltese companies claimed that their business letter- heads were being falsified for rec- ommendations and the official invi- tations used for the issuing of a visa for Libyan businessmen. The scam appeared to have been an ongoing affair, with allegations that someone in the Maltese em- bassy in Tripoli was responsible and directly involved in the matter, in conjunction with a criminal gang. A Libyan criminal ring appears to have been responsible in approach- ing Libyan businessmen and offer- ing them an immediate Maltese visa for €1,500. In June 2013, the Foreign Affairs ministry had issued a statement confirming that the alleged abuse in the issuing of visas by the Maltese Consulate in Libya had been under investigation for weeks. However, despite confirming that a preliminary internal investigation was initiated upon Vella's order, the government never revealed the out- come of the investigations. To date, it is not known what the police investigations have uncov- ered although MaltaToday is in- formed that the police are still in- vestigating the visas fraud case. Contacted yesterday, a spokesper- son for the Foreign Affairs Ministry denied that Farrugia had ever been suspended from her post at the Consulate office in Tripoli. Unofficial sources claimed that Farrugia had been suspended in May this year, and replaced by Nathalie Muscat. On her Linkedin profile, Muscat lists herself as the Consul at the Maltese Consulate, Tripoli in Libya (starting May 2014) while the foreign ministry website lists Farrugia as the consul and Arthur Taliana as the counsellor. Sources in Libya however insist that Farrugia was briefly suspended but brought back in at the begin- ning of the Libya crisis, due to her fluency in Arabic. Maltese oil worker's second brush with 'Libyan's hospitality' Libya seems to be a fertile ground for drama for the retired AFM cap- tain who had also been caught in the 2011 revolution. In a comment he had left on Daphne Caruana Galizia's blog, the Malta Independent columnist, Galea had recounted how he had been "hijacked by the military", had his two vehicles stolen and had been almost shot. "I was hijacked by the military, had my two vehicles stolen, then was almost shot by the same sol- diers, who said that we were illegally gathered. I had to bribe people to get to Misurata, where they are charg- ing 100 dinars a head for taxi rides, then had to shelter in a house over- night to avoid all the pro Ghaddafi, trigger-happy demonstrations, and then after being beaten up three times at the airport, bribe my way through, and spend 12 hours wait- ing for the flight to arrive, which we had no idea about, because contrary to what was promised, the charge d'affaires never came back so we were left in the dark as to what was going on," Galea had written. COME & ENJOY A PINA COLADA WITH US! MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 COME & COME & ENJOY A PINA COLADA WITH US! MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 Maltese oil worker's second brush with Libyan hospitality • 'I was hijacked by the military,' Martin Galea said in 2011 "I was hijacked by the military, had my two vehicles stolen, then was almost shot by the same soldiers, who said that we were illegally gathered Marisa Farrugia exiting the aircraft ahead of Martin Galea