Minister Austin Gatt has been arguing all along that there is no correlation between the market price of Maltacom’s shares and the actual value of the company.

When reporting Maltacom’s privatisation, the electronic newspaper gulfnews.com seemed to think differently about the matter.

So much so that it reported the following in bold capitals:

“The final purchase price at dh17.13 per Maltacom share is lower than its closing price of dh20.35 on the Malta Stock Exchange.”

For all intents and purposes this is tantamount to a 16 per cent dip!

While minority shareholders fared better in the long run with Mid Med’s privatisation, the same surely cannot be said for Maltacom’s privatisation.

Former US Ambassador Laingen shows the way

Bruce Laingen, who today is a retired US Foreign Service Officer, was one of the best American Ambassadors to Malta.

Most unfortunately at the end of his Malta posting he found himself posted to Iran where after only a few months he found himself held in captivity for 444 days during the Iranian takeover of the US Embassy and the seizure of American diplomats as hostages.

A few years back I had the occasion to meet him during a visit to Washington DC.

Although one would have expected him to be still full of rage about his years of Iranian captivity, his recent comments on the present Iranian crisis were indeed words of wisdom.

He was reported to have told journalist Afshin Molavi that “Diplomats should talk, even with our foes. That’s what we do. It doesn’t make sense for us not to talk to the Iranians. I’m not saying that I would confidently predict a breakthrough, but there must be some sort of dialogue.”

Even UN Chief Kofi Annan has called for caution over this burning issue.

He recently called on all those involved in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear crisis to tone down their rhetoric, claiming that he pinned his hopes on diplomatic efforts.

There is hardly much to add to the following words of his:

“There is a need to lower the temperature, and refrain from actions and rhetoric that could further inflame the situation.”

It is true that after 27 years of mutual mistrust and ill will, dialogue with Iran will undoubtedly be difficult. But as an Iran analyst recently put it – What are the alternatives?

He remarked that aside from the nuclear issue, Americans should disabuse themselves of the notion that dialogue is tantamount to appeasement or would be ‘selling out’ the Iranian people’s hopes of democratic change. Quite the contrary, embarking on a comprehensive dialogue with Iran will give the Bush administration the opportunity to match its rhetorical commitment to Middle Eastern democracy and human rights with action.

The US-Libya breakthrough shows the way

The recent full normalisation of relations between the USA and Libya shows that dialogue and that diplomatic exchanges do indeed pay.

When I visited the US way back in 1986 it was evident that the US was solely interested in regime change in Libya.

Following Qaddafi’s renunciation of any weapons of mass destruction and the ensuing breakthrough in discussions between both sides, it has emerged very clearly that direct talks were crucial in getting Libya to change its ways, because that is how Qaddafi became convinced that if he did change policy, the Americans would not do regime change.

While I have nothing against democratisation in the Middle East, I do not think that American insistence in this regard always pays.

In my opinion, had they asked the Libyans to change their political system the successful breakthrough in diplomatic relations would not have materialised.

Let us hope that the Americans will adopt the same attitude towards North Korea.

At the time of writing I am encouraged by the fact that reports are filtering through, that the US is considering a new approach to North Korea in the sense that it would consider beginning negotiations on a peace treaty if North Korea chose to return to the so called six country talks which have been stalled for months.

So if it can and did happen in Libya’s regard, and seems possible to happen with N. Korea, why not also Iran?

Admittedly the statement that the Iranians would like to write Israel off the map surely does not help matters and could explain a certain hardening in the American position.

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Leo Brincat is the Main Opposition Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and IT.