“I would like to express my deepest sympathy in the wake of the school siege… which has claimed the life of so many innocent victims,” Dr Fenech Adami wrote.

“This atrocious event, aimed at the most defenceless part of society, the children, has shocked the whole international community. It is an attack against the human dignity.

“This barbarous assail has also shown that terrorists have no specific targets or barriers… It lies with the international community as a whole to cooperate and collaborate to combat this common enemy so that freedom, democracy and human rights will eventually triumph.”