At the time, Ives de Barro was the second secretary at the Maltese Embassy in Libya.

L-Orizzont had reported that Mr de Barro had met a British official in Tripoli and disclosed information about a meeting between Maltese Deputy PM Anton Buttigieg and Libyan PM Abdessalam Jalloud.

Following L-Orizzont’s articles, the Foreign Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Cecilia Attard, drew up a report over the case. The report, which was tabled in Parliament last week, recommended that no action be taken against Mr de Barro.

Labour’s public services spokesman, Helena Dalli, said that the ministry’s handling of the case was shameful, pointing out that information released by the UK’s Public Records Office clearly showed that the former diplomat had passed confidential information to the UK.

She said that this occurred when Malta-UK relations were difficult, and when Malta was requesting financial assistance from Libya, a fact which made the leak even more crucial. The report, however, said that the leak was just a regrettable incident, Dr Dalli lamented.

In a reaction, the Foreign Ministry said that the Public Records Office information did not indicate any systematic meetings between Mr De Barro and British officials, and that charging the diplomat with espionage was not factual.

What Mr De Barro was doing, the ministry said, was simply sharing personal opinions on contemporary events.

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