A Libyan man was yesterday charged with burgling a house in Ta’ Xbiex last December after the police matched his fingerprints with those lifted off an Arab newspaper found on the floor of the burgled house.

Police inspector Anthony Portelli told magistrate Lawrence Quintano that the police decided to proceed against the 30-year-old Tarek Mahmoud Abou Mehdi after the finger prints on the newspaper matched with his.

Mr Portelli said the newspaper had been found inside the burgled house owned by a Maltese-speaking family.

Mr Mehdi, who is married to a Maltese woman, is pleading not guilty to burgling the house in Ta Xbiex on New Year’s Eve and relapsing.

Magistrate Quintano turned down the man’s request for bail and he was remanded in custody.

Police inspector Anthony Portelli prosecuted while Dr Joe Brincat appeared for Mr Mehdi.