AS AMERICAN SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ARRIVES, MALTA STILL BELIEVES THAT MUSCAT WILL GET IMMUNITY IN EXCHANGE FOR SOFA AGREEMENT

  Notwithstanding the fact that we cannot ascertain how there is any truth to the story, many in Malta continue to believe that their country's Prime Minister, Robert Abela, is about to make an agreement  that would allow US military forces access to Malta, in exchange for an American promise not to prosecute former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in the US on money laundering, terrorist financing and corruption charges. Now that the American Secretary of State has arrived, the chatter has increased exponentially about the subject.

Nothing could be further from the truth; Any such agreement, even if its could be consummated, would involve the Departments of Justice and of State, neither of whom would most likely entertain immunity from prosecution for an individual known to be not only a paragon of corruption, but a supporter of the principal Iran sanctions evasion scheme, which is a global crime that the United States will not ignore.

 

Moreover, Prime Minister Abela has failed to publicly deny that such a scheme is even under consideration by his office, which is an abject leadership failure, just when Malta wants assurance that their country's principal bad actor will finally face justice. To complicate things, the fact that Abela is believed to have been implicated in much of Muscat's criminality, by virtue of his prior service as "legal advisor," and often being present in conferences where group decisions that involved corrupt activities were made. Abela, who was Muscat's backoffice choice to succeed him, is said to be following his predecessor's directives to the letter.

Abela's silence is clearly disturbing his supporters, and leaving important questions unanswered. Who is getting immunity, and for what ?