Gaddafi to the Rescue

When one love-smitten member of Malta's 55-man Parliament neglected legislative duties last week for marriage and a brief honeymoon, Prime Minister Dom Mintoff promptly told the entire house to take a five-day recess. There was nothing festive about the holiday. Maltese opinion is sharply split over Mintoffs order that British troops either pay higher rents or quit the island (TIME, Jan. 10). With tensions rising as his Jan. 15 deadline approached and with only a one-vote parliamentary advantage, Mintoff was afraid to risk a vote of confidence while the groom --one of his own Labor Party supporters--dallied elsewhere.

Evacuation. The legislative holiday was one in a series of bizarre events on the tiny Mediterranean island brought on by "Deadline Dom" and his decree. He wants a $33.8 million hike over the present rentals of $13 million a year that the British pay for their bases. Since Malta is no longer strategically vital, London is willing to pay an additional $11.7 million and no more. To underscore British determination, Whitehall last week flew in a party of expert "dismantlers" to knock down its facilities. Evacuation began of 4,994 British dependents aboard R.A.F. VC-10s at Luqa Airport.

There were some signs that Britain may not want to pass the point of no return. In London, Defense Minister Lord Carrington canceled a Far East tour in order "to supervise the withdrawal of British forces"--or to be available if negotiations were resumed. But unless they are, the last troops could be out by March 31.

As the British departure began, there was a mysterious arrival. At Luqa, a Libyan air force cargo plane discharged 44 men in civilian clothes who were lugging 4-ft.-long wooden crates. Government spokesmen insisted that the Libyans were "technicians" who had come to operate Luqa when British air-traffic controllers leave; their crates merely contained technical gear.

Most Maltese considered that a most unlikely story; Libya is so inexpert at air-traffic control that its airports at Tripoli and Benghazi are run by French and Egyptian technicians. More probably the arrivals were policemen and their crates contained arms. They had apparently come in case riots break out over the British evacuation and Maltese police are unable--or unwilling--to cope.

Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi appears willing to support Mintoff financially. Gaddafi has already loaned Malta about $3,000,000 to replenish the government's diminishing social security fund. Now he seems ready to do more. The end of 170 years of British use of the island would mean eliminating 22,000 full-or part-time jobs and losing a $54 million annual contribution to the economy. Gaddafi recently dispatched a plane to Malta to fly Mintoff to Tripoli. The upshot of their discussions was believed to be an agreement that Libya will cover such losses.

Uncertain Return. Gaddafi is more than able to do so. His oil industry, the Middle East's richest, provides annual revenues of $2.4 billion; these will undoubtedly increase as a result of his sudden nationalization of British Petroleum's Libyan wells last month. From this hoard Gaddafi doles out about $125 million a year to Egypt, some of which compensates for lost Suez Canal tolls, $40 million to Syria and $10 million to the Sudan. He is reportedly ready to advance Mintoff $140 million over a three-year period, just what the Prime Minister is demanding from the British.

What Gaddafi wants in return is not clear. Libya hardly needs Malta's bases. The most plausible explanation is that the youthful Gaddafi--at 31, a xenophobic nationalist and Moslem fundamentalist who detests Communism as much as colonialism--is seizing an opportunity to neutralize Malta. His money is payable only after the British leave and on condition that the Russian Mediterranean fleet is also barred. He particularly wants to get rid of British planes, which, he insists, have been overflying Egypt from Malta to spy for Israel. If their reconnaissance flights are ended, he recently told startled Maltese visitors, the Arab nations should be able to defeat Israel within three years.

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