Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/734031
2 MIRIAM DALLI A 33-year-old man is being held by the police in connection with the brutal murder of Caroline Magri, a 41-year-old mother. Informed sources confirmed that the person being held for questioning is a man from Togo. The man is reportedly denying any involvement in the killing. Magri, whose body was found at a private residence on George Badger Street, Ta' Giorni, was killed on Friday. A police source said the wom- an was found with a slashed throat and multiple stab wounds. A man she lived with made the discovery. Eyewitnesses told MaltaTo- day on Friday that the woman's anguished daughter was seen emerging from the house, after the unknown assailant left the building. Magri's daughter was heard screaming, "my mother has been killed", witnesses said. Just over a month ago, Magri was arraigned in court after a fight broke out in a Floriana apartment. She had been arraigned along with a 33-year-old man from Togo, identified as Djibril Gani- ou who was described as her partner. The two were accused of grievous bodily harm and as- sault on two men who lived in a Floriana apartment. Magri had also been accused of breaching several court sen- tences. Court reports dating back to 2015 show that Ganiou had been investigated by the police over domestic violence, with the man then being accused of resisting police arrest by run- ning away and spitting at the police. In September 2015, the To- golese national was initially ar- rested after his Maltese partner, Grima, sought police help be- cause she was being threatened. Media reports of the court sit- ting recount how the woman appeared in court with a black eye. The charges of domestic vi- olence were dropped after Ma- gri told the court that she had forgiven the accused and was dropping the changes against him – reforms to the domestic violence legislation will now ensure that, even if a victim 'forgives' the perpetrator, the police cannot drop their case in court. On Friday, neighbours claimed that the woman was the mother of seven children, and that they suspect she was a sex worker. Some also complained that she had "entertained visits by many men" on various occasions in the past two years since she moved into the street. Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera is leading the inquiry. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 OCTOBER 2016 News Foreigner held over Ta' Giorni murder Government close to pulling plug on Alitalia deal JURGEN BALZAN PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat is very close to terminating the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Alitalia in April which had to lead to the acquisition of 49% of the ailing Air Malta by the Ital- ian airline. On Friday, Muscat said that he would consider alternatives to Alitalia if talks for the acquisition of a 49% stake in Air Malta are not advantageous. MaltaToday understands that Muscat is ready to pull the plug on the Alitalia deal as there are serious doubts on wheth- er it will benefit the country and Air Malta's employees. Air Malta has been undergoing a restructuring process costing some €230 million ever since it was given the green light for state aid under strict European Commission rules. With low cost giant Ryanair close to taking the majority market share of the incoming passenger market to Malta and Air Malta's financial sustainability in se- rious doubt, the part-privatisation of Air Malta is a priority for Muscat's govern- ment. MaltaToday is informed that Alitalia are due to take a final decision on the acquisi- tion of Air Malta this month following a rigorous due diligence exercise. In May, Alitalia's president, Luca Cord- ero di Montezemolo, had underlined the advantages the Air Malta stake would of- fer to Alitalia in Sicily, confirming suspi- cions that Alitalia's strategic vision for a feeder airline does not match Air Malta's expectations of expanding its routes to transcontinental hubs. "If it goes forward, it would be a zero- risk operation – sub-zero, indeed – for Alitalia. It is an investment that would not cost a euro, and would open up interesting connections with Sicily. Let us work on it, let's carry out a management and econom- ic due diligence," he had said. Alitalia's potential acquisition of Air Malta would definitely lead to downsiz- ing in the national airline but would not necessarily bring new investment. Alitalia itself is 49% owned by the Abu Dhabi air- line, Etihad. On Friday, Muscat told the Malta Ho- tels and Restaurants Association, whose president, Tony Zahra, said he was wor- ried that the national airline would not be carrying the most passengers in the coming year, that "there are no ties… if a b e t t e r offer comes through or if negotiations are not to our advantage, we will go for an- other alternative." The Nationalist Party has in the past proposed selling shares in the airline, later proposing that local investors should con- tribute to improve the airline's situation. Opposition leader Simon Busuttil this week reiterated that the government should reconsider accepting local invest- ment for Air Malta instead of only consid- ering selling 49% of the airline to Alitalia. Although tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis did not rule out the latter option, MaltaToday understands that the government favours a strategic partner- ship. Prior to the initial agreement signed with Alitalia, the government was in talks with a number of airlines, including Turk- ish Airlines. Expert advice by legal firm Camilleri Preziosi showed that Air Malta could not be floated on the stock exchange due to its financial predicament. Air Malta's finan- cial situation means that the carrier can- not even qualify for a listing of its shares on the stock exchange. The latest financial reports show that Air Malta posted a loss of €16.4 million for the year ending March 2015 and was set to re- duce its losses to €4 million by 2016. Now in its fifth year of the European Commission's restructuring plan, the company was supposed to break even and return to profitability by this year. In what was a turbulent summer for Air Malta, the airline was locked in protracted talks with various unions in which new agreements were reached over employ- ment conditions and early retirement schemes. On Friday, Muscat said that he would consider alternatives to Alitalia if talks for the acquisition of a 49% stake in Air Malta MaltaToday understands that Muscat is ready to pull the plug on the Alitalia deal as there are serious doubts on wheth- er it will benefit the country and Air Malta has been undergoing a restructuring process costing some €230 million ever since it was given the green light for state aid under strict With low cost giant Ryanair close to taking the majority market share of the incoming passenger market to Malta and Air Malta's financial sustainability in se- rious doubt, the part-privatisation of Air Malta is a priority for Muscat's govern- MaltaToday is informed that Alitalia are due to take a final decision on the acquisi- tion of Air Malta this month following a In May, Alitalia's president, Luca Cord- ero di Montezemolo, had underlined the advantages the Air Malta stake would of- fer to Alitalia in Sicily, confirming suspi- cions that Alitalia's strategic vision for a feeder airline does not match Air Malta's expectations of expanding its routes to "If it goes forward, it would be a zero- risk operation – sub-zero, indeed – for Alitalia. It is an investment that would not cost a euro, and would open up interesting itself is 49% owned by the Abu Dhabi air- line, Etihad. On Friday, Muscat told the Malta Ho- tels and Restaurants Association, whose president, Tony Zahra, said he was wor- ried that the national airline would not be carrying the most passengers in the coming year, that "there are no ties… if a b e t t e r Opposition leader Simon Busuttil this week reiterated that the government should reconsider accepting local invest- ment for Air Malta instead of only consid- ering selling 49% of the airline to Alitalia. Although tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis did not rule out the latter option, MaltaToday understands that the government favours a strategic partner- ship. Prior to the initial agreement signed with Alitalia, the government was in talks with a number of airlines, including Turk- on the stock exchange. The latest financial reports show that Air Malta posted a loss of €16.4 million for the year ending March 2015 and was set to re- duce its losses to €4 million by 2016. Now in its fifth year of the European Commission's restructuring plan, the company was supposed to break even and return to profitability by this year. In what was a turbulent summer for Air Malta, the airline was locked in protracted talks with various unions in which new agreements were reached over employ- ment conditions and early retirement schemes. Alitalia's potential acquisition of Air Malta would definitely lead to downsizing in the national airline but would not necessarily bring new investment