Mounting pressure from the two rival governments operating in Libya has led the government to make the "painful" decision to recall Maltese diplomats from Tripoli for their own safety, Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella said this morning.

Dr Vella was speaking during a press conference held to explain the decision to recall the two remaining Maltese, which was made public yesterday.

An ongoing conflict has seen Libya divided into various warring factions, and its internationally-recognised government has since lost control of Tripoli and moved to Tobruk. Tripoli is under the control of the so-called Libya Dawn, and Benghazi is under the control of the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, made up of Islamist militias. The eastern Libyan city of Derna has also recently pledged allegiance to ISIS, whose self-declared caliphate presently occupies parts of Iraq and Syria.

Since the Maltese embassy is based in Tripoli, the main problem it is dealing with is pressure from the Libya Dawn to recognise it, according to Dr Vella. At the same time, the Tobruk government is stepping up its own pressure to insist that Malta does not grant legitimacy to the Tripoli government.

The minister said that while the Maltese diplomats in Tripoli had not received any direct threats, they had been shadowed and were receiving calls that sent a clear message. These calls were coming from people affiliated with Libya Dawn, he said, adding that the "subtle pressure" was mounting and was not allowing the diplomats to work serenely.

Consequently, the decision was made to temporarily relocate the diplomats to Malta.

"I never imagined that I would be the one to recall diplomats from Tripoli. It was a painful and difficult decision to make, but I had to think of their safety," Dr Vella said.

The embassy has not been closed, though only locally-engaged staff remain. However, Dr Vella acknowledged that as a result of the recall, its work has practically ground to a standstill.

"I know that the decision will have an impact on the Maltese who are in Tripoli," the minister maintained, adding that the ministry's crisis centre has been reactivated.

The Italian and Hungarian embassies in Tripoli remain open, and as EU citizens, Maltese nationals can receive assistance within them. Dr Vella pointed out that the Italian embassy's resources - including security arrangements - far outstripped those of Malta.

Consular services had been stopped in August, and as a result, the Maltese embassy has not issued visas since. According to Dr Vella, Libyan nationals seeking to obtain a visa to travel to Malta have either applied at the Italian embassy - as Moroccans do in the absence of a Maltese embassy, he pointed out - or travelled to neighbouring Tunisia.

The minister also acknowledged that to casual observers, the situation in Tripoli appeared to be normal, with no apparent threats to people's safety. However, he noted that a deeper analysis of the situation revealed that things were not so simple, pointing out that allies of the Tobruk government in the Nafusa mountains region to Tripoli's southwest have claimed to be preparing for an attack on the Libyan capital with the use of aircraft.

Dr Vella denied claims, made by the Libyan press, that the Maltese embassy was planning to move to Tobruk, stating that there were plans to move the embassy for as long as Tripoli remained the Libyan capital.

As for Maltese business interests in Libya, the minister said that there was an inherent risk to such dealings, recalling that in Malta, a number of people had grown very wealthy during wartime, with the risk of losing it all.

He said that people could not be restricted from operating in Libya, and that the government was ready to help secure Malta-Libya trade.

However, he added, it was not ready to endanger diplomats to further business interests.