Malta rejects Libyan plan to mediate with Europe: PM

(VALLETTA) - Malta has refused a proposal from the Libyan government to act as a mediator with the European Union, Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said in comments published on Friday.

"We told the Libyans straight and plain that, at this stage, there is no mediation to do," Gonzi, who met with a Libyan envoy in Malta on Wednesday, was quoted as saying to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

"The Libyan authorities have to listen to the wishes of the people," he said.

European leaders were meeting in Brussels on Friday for a crisis summit on Libya. An EU source said the bloc had received no request to date for talks with an envoy from embattled Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.

Libya's Undersecretary for International Co-operation Mohammed Taher Siyala flew to Malta on Wednesday for a meeting with Gonzi. He then flew on to Portugal for a brief meeting with Foreign Minister Luis Amado.

Siyala visited "the Maltese prime minister to explain the Libyan government's position on the recent events," the Maltese government said earlier in a statement following the talks on Wednesday.

"The prime minister reiterated the Maltese government's position... and insisted that all violence has to stop immediately," it added.