The Malta Independent has learned some of the major topics which were discussed in emails sent from the US embassy in Malta to diplomats stateside, with perhaps the most tantalising one under the ‘tags’ of “Arms, external policy, military and nuclear application, Iran, UK, Libya, Egypt, Germany and Malta”.
Like everywhere else in the world, people in Malta are itching to find out the contents of the emails which Wikileaks began to publish last Sunday. So far 281 cables have been released and contain supposedly genuine information on Saudi Arabia’s purported request for the US and its allies to bomb Iran, China being open to the idea of a unified Korea administered by Seoul and frank assessments of world leaders’ character traits.
The full volume of cables was given to the UK’s The Guardian, the US New York Times, Die Welt, El Pais and Le Monde.
Contrary to what most of the local media reported, there are a total of 137 references to Malta. Out of those 137 references, 101 were in emails sent from the US embassy in Malta to diplomats in the States. The rest of the references were made to Malta in emails sent from other embassies around the world, or the Secretary of State’s Office.
Out of the 101 emails sent out of Malta, the first (which is contained in the leak) was at 12.51pm on 4 September 2007. These continued to be sent on an almost weekly (sometimes more often) basis, all the way up to February of this year.
In fact, the last email which is included in the Wikileaks release was sent on 22 February this year. Picking out the Malta cables from a list of 251,287 documents on an excel sheet was no easy task. Finding out what the hundreds of acronyms mean was an even tougher job.
While full light on the matter will not be shed until Wikileaks releases the Malta cables, this newspaper is in a position to reveal a good deal of the topics which were discussed in the emails.
The bulk of the Malta cables seemed to be routine communiqués, discussing the economy, political relations on a bilateral and international level, finances, government affairs, financial management and investment. There does, however, seem to be quite a few tags relating to refugees and human rights, perhaps suggesting that the US embassy was not quite enthralled with treatment of immigrants in Malta. There were also numerous references to Iran, presumably in connection with the shipping line IRISL.
There are some particular tags which are very interesting. The last email, sent on 22 February, for example, contains references to human rights, security and refugees. Two weeks earlier, a cable was sent to Washington on the issue of civil aviation. A cable sent on 15 December 2009 deals with the issues of OVIP – visits by VIPs or heads of state – and arms control and disarmament.
There are also a few references to Afghanistan. There seem to be two very interesting cables which were sent out on 19 and 20 November, dealing with the United Nations General Assembly in relation to Syria, Lebanon and Israel – presumably during a period of conflict.
In another email sent on 13 November last year, the issues of North Korea, trade and technology controls and finance were discussed in the context of the UN’s Security Council.
In other emails, Israel, terrorism, economic assistance, human rights in Belarus, Burma (Myanmar), energy and Bosnia were discussed.
Another very interesting one pertains to Iran, military and nuclear technology application, and Germany. There was also reference to military and defence arrangements and military assistance, in all likelihood referring to the patrol boats which were given to the AFM.
Military operations in Georgia, trade with Cuba, East and North Asia and relations with China were discussed in other emails.
But perhaps the most tantalising exchange is in two emails dated 14 and 21 September 2009 under the tags: Arms, external policy, military and nuclear application, Iran, UK, Libya, Egypt, Germany and Malta.