It has been a rather long time since the world, and Malta as well, took any notice of what is happening in Libya. But now things are moving, fast.

The eastern border has remained rather static with the rebels only now making some headway towards Brega, and, even then, not conquering it all yet.

Misurata is now clear of the encircling attacks but the rebels there, who took a terrible beating over the past months, have not moved substantially towards the west, and Tripoli.

The real surprise, and advance, has come from the Nafusa Mountains which lie southwest of Tripoli. After freeing themselves of the Gaddafi troops, rebels have been moving steadily towards Tripoli, taking a battering, losing people, but also attracting people from the coastal towns who had been hiding out from reprisals.

They have now, as of yesterday, come to around 50kms from Tripoli, cutting off road connections to Tunisia, which allowed Tripoli to beat the embargo and get fuel and food. Tripoli, and Gaddafi, are now under siege, surrounded by hostile forces to the west and the south and blocked by Nato ships in the sea (north) side.

Of all the conquests made by the rebels over the past days, none has been so poignant as that of Zawiya. This town, with a population of 200,000, had risen in protest at the beginning of the protests in far-away February, but its nearness to Tripoli and its distance from the rebel centres like Benghazi meant it was overtaken by the Gaddafi troops after a bloody battle. After that, its citizens were mercilessly butchered and massacred and even the mosque and the centre square where the martyrs had been buried razed over in a bid to obliterate all memory of the uprising.

That’s the situation, as of yesterday around noon. The latest news that the Gaddafi forces have unleashed a Scud missile of the around 200 they are said to have, even if the missile landed harmlessly in the desert, is a sure sign that Gaddafi is feeling the heat as the noose around him gets tighter.

For all the rebel euphoria, the coming days may see more signs of despair. It has recently been reported that Mikhail Margelov, the Russian president’s special envoy to Africa, said in an interview with the Russian Izvestia newspaper that the regime of Muammar Gaddafi has “a suicidal plan” in place if rebels move to seize Tripoli.

“The Libyan premier told me, ‘If the rebels take over the city, we will cover it with missiles and blow it up,’” he said. “I imagine that the Gaddafi regime does have such a suicidal plan.”

Margelov met Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, the Libyan prime minister, in the capital last month but hasn’t yet met Gaddafi.

“Tripoli theoretically could lack ammunition for tanks, cartridges for rifles. But the colonel has got plenty of missiles and explosives,” he said.

The coming days, thus, are crucial. While the rest of the world may look on with renewed interest in what is happening in Libya, our proximity makes us worry rather than rejoice.

The bulk of Maltese investments are in the vicinity of Tripoli, many already compromised because of their perceived nearness to regime figures. There are even some Maltese remaining there, at the centre of the vortex.

The past days have seen an increase in the number of boat people crossing over, although most were directed at Lampedusa. But once the hostilities are over, one can imagine the number of people connected to the regime fleeing from the rebels would push many more boats out to sea.

Finally, there is to consider Malta’s position vis-à-vis Libya. Malta must be one of the last places in the world where the Green flag is still flying outside the embassy. In London itself, at the height of the riots, the Green flag was lowered and replaced by the rebel flag.

Malta’s problem has always been whether it is too late or too much in advance. In this case, although Malta adopted a strong and applauded position right from the beginning of the conflict, in anything regarding the Gaddafi regime it has tended to be late rather than early.