The leaders of Italy, France and Spain will
hold a trilateral meeting on Friday, on the sidelines of a two-day
summit in Malta between five southern European nations and five north
African counterparts.
The meeting - taking place amid rumours of an impeding bailout
request by Spain and ongoing negotiations about continuing
internatioanl aid to Greece - was announced Wednesday by the office
of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in Rome.
Monti's spokeswoman, Elisabetta Olivi, told dpa there were "no
particular items" to be discussed with French President Francois
Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The talks between
the three leaders were scheduled to start at 6pm (1600 GMT).
The so-called 5+5 summit in the Maltese capital of Valletta was
due to last until Saturday.
Leaders from Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, from
Portugal and host nation Malta, as well as representatives from
regional bodies such as the European Union and the Arab League were
also due to attend.
Among the items on the agenda are security, the environment and
irregular immigration in the Mediterranean, Maltese Prime Minister
Lawrence Gonzi told reporters.
"We need to discuss ways of putting an end to deaths in the desert
and in our seas. We insist that the illegal migration problem is not
one country's problem, but a problem of the whole region," Gonzi
said.
Thousands of desperate Africans try to cross to Europe every year
from Libya and Tunisia - many never make it, others often end up
triggering diplomatic spats over which country should assume
responsibility for their rescue and status.
It is the first 5+5 meeting since last year's Arab Spring
uprisings and last month's tensions between Western nations and the
Muslim world over the publication of cartoons of the prophet Mohammed
in a French magazine and the release of an anti-Islam film made in
the US.
Malta was meant to host the summit in June 2011, but the conflict
in Libya forced a postponement. The host nation is currently
experiencing a major internal government rift which is threatening an
early election.
