From Mr M. Mifsud Bonnici.

In a letter to the media “Concerns of a conservationist” (ToM, 21 February) David Conlin does not show his true colours.

Mr Conlin runs “Proact”, a bird-conservation organisation, which, in pursuit of its aims, has stirred up a fanatical hatred against hunting and Maltese hunters in particular. Being totally against hunting, these extremists strive for a hunting-free world and resort to any means possible in order to have hunting abolished. Accordingly, Mr Conlin’s real intention and that of his organisation and its partners is to ban all hunting on the Maltese Islands.

We reproduce Conlin’s own words taken from the letter “Empire strikes back” on his website: “Proact Malta Stage II has yet to be launched. Don’t forget that our immediate priority must be the birds now in OUR breeding grounds, which will have to run the gauntlet of fire in the autumn. Keep the pressure up RELENTLESSLY. The hunters and their lackeys won’t give up without a (dirty) fight - that’s for sure!”

Last September Mr Conlin and others sharing his ideals were in Malta for a so-called Raptor Camp and Minister George Pullicino complied with their wishes, even to the extent of banning hunting in the afternoon for two whole weeks. KSU and the hunting federation (FKNK) rightly protested against this action taken to please extremists. Now Minister Pullicino knows he was harbouring extremists and giving in to their wishes, and now he also knows that, in collusion with local birders, these foreigners are the instigators of the entire furore about hunting.

It is also clear that the hunting expert on the Ornis Committee, Henry Fenech Azzopardi, was fooled by the outward respectability of these foreigners, in particular this agitator from Berlin. Otherwise he would have understood why the FKNK was “so against foreigners patrolling the countryside”. Now he too knows that far from being “a blessing in disguise”, they are agitators who do not act out of love for birds, but out of hatred for the hunters. Mr Conlin, emboldened by the prospect of a ban on spring hunting, is planning the next action, this time against hunting in autumn and, in his own words is expecting this to end in “a (dirty) fight”.

And yet he proposes to come here again this spring to spy on Maltese hunters, with the specific intent, expressly stated, to have autumn hunting banned as well. Now if that is not provocation, what is? This explains why he fears for his own safety on his next visit to Malta, because having sown the wind he fears reaping the whirlwind. After lecturing Dr Gonzi on police behaviour, this agitator has the cheek to expect to be provided with police protection at the expense of the Maltese taxpayer.

The government should take note of this agitator’s stated intentions, and prevent his spying mission on Malta by declaring him as persona non grata. That will send a strong message to all like-minded mini-dictators that their brand of extremism has no place in a peace-loving country like Malta.

Mark Mifsud Bonnici.

Secretary

Kaccaturi San Ubertu (KSU)