During a short ceremony at the CPD, US ambassador Anthony Gioia said that in addition, the US had allocated a further Lm36,000 towards spare parts and training of personnel to be able to use the equipment. Mr Gioia said terrorism was a world fight. “We have seen incidents of terror in Bali, Morocco, Spain, the US and many others. It is a fight we all have to take part in,” he said.

He said that the most important line of defence in the global war against terror was border security. “Malta may be small, but it has great dedication to security,” said Mr Gioia. He said that apart from this equipment, the US had assisted Malta by providing a VACIS cargo scanner, a PISCES immigration identification system and another patrol boat is on the way.

“For partnerships to work,

everyone needs to bring something to the party. We provide the equipment and Malta provides the commitment to use the equipment well. That is the way all our partnerships should work and that’s the way our partnership in Malta works,” concluded a smiling Ambassador Gioia.

Interior Minister Tonio Borg said that for the umpteenth time, he wanted to thank the American government for giving Malta more tools with which to combat terrorism.

“We are ready to assist anyone in the fight against terror, we will assist our friends to fight any (terrorist) foe,” said Dr Borg, coining a quote from a former US President.

Dr Borg said terrorists did not distinguish nationalities or religions, “Just look at the 11 September attacks, so many people from different backgrounds were killed,” he said.

Dr Borg said the US and Malta had strong bilateral ties that went back to the 1960s. “Different administrations have had the same successes, but Ambassador Gioia seems to have put us on the fast track for receiving donations from his government and I wish to thank him personally for this,” said Dr Borg.

The Interior Minister said that last year, the CPD received 5,000 requests for assistance in cases of flooding, maritime pollution and traffic accidents. Dr Borg concurred with Mr Gioia and said terrorism had no boundaries. He said that he was happy to be travelling to Tunisia next month to discuss terrorism with leaders of north African states.

CPD head Peter Cordina said the equipment was going to prove very useful for the CPD and thanked the US government for the donation.