Minister Carmelo Abela could not recall whether his decision to terminate Andrew Caruana Galizia's diplomatic posting in India after the 2017 election was the result of pressure from the office of the prime minister.

Abela was appointed foreign minister after the 2017 election and just two weeks later Caruana Galizia was recalled from his foreign posting and assigned to an office with no work to do. Andrew, one of the sons of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, was given two weeks' notice to pack up his bags and leave India.

But testifying in front of the public inquiry this morning, pressed by lawyer Jason Azzopardi, Abela could not remember whether he was under pressure from then prime minister Joseph Muscat and his chief of staff Keith Schembri, to terminate Caruana Galizia's appointment.

Azzopardi: "Do we agree that he was given just two weeks' notice to return from India? Do we agree that he was not replaced? Do we agree that he was put in an office with nothing to do after that?"

Abela: "I have nothing personally against him..."

Azzopardi: "Were you under pressure to recall him?"

Abela: "I don't see the relevance."

Azzopardi: "You are uncomfortable. Answer the question. Yes or no?"

The board intervenes: "Was there pressure or not?"

Abela: "I don't remember."

Azzopardi had earlier asked Abela whether Italy had, in 2017, offered technical assistance to solve car bombings. At the time, Abela was home affairs minister. In February 2017, Romeo Bone, a known criminal, was maimed after his car was blown up in Msida. Four months earlier, Giovann Camilleri Tas-Sapun, was also killed in a car bombing in Buġibba.

But Abela told the inquiry that he could not recall whether the Italians had offered technical assistance.

Asked whether he could recall authorising intercepts about car bombs during his time as home affairs minister, Abela replied that he could not exclude the matter. "When I was minister, there was more than one car bomb. I don't exclude that there were persons who were indicated to me by the Head of the Security Services," he said.

The inquiry is led by retired judge Michael Mallia and includes former chief justice Joseph Said Pullicino and Judge Abigail Lofaro.

Live Blog:

11:15 The inquiry continues next Monday at 2pm with Minister Michael Falzon, followed by another session on Wednesday at 2pm where Inspector Kurt Zahra is expected to continue testifying. On Friday at 9:30am, Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis will then be asked to testify.

11:11 The minister steps off the stand. His testimony is concluded.

11:09 Abela: "I don't remember."

11:08 The board intervenes: "Was there pressure or not?"

11:08 Azzopardi: "You are uncomfortable. Answer the question. Yes or no?"

11:08 Abela: "I don't see the relevance."

11:08 Azzopardi: "Were you under pressure to recall him?"

11:07 Abela: "I have nothing personally against him..."

11:07 Azzopardi: "Do we agree that he was given just two weeks' notice to return from India? Do we agree that he was not replaced? Do we agree that he was put in an office with nothing to do after that?"

11:06 The board asks about the relevance.

11:06 Abela is asked whether Caruana Galizia had asked to meet him to get reasons for his recall. "Caruana Galizia had asked to meet me and we had discussed the operation of the ministry," Abela says.

11:05 Azzopardi asks him how many diplomats were recalled as soon as he became minister, but is overruled. He rephrases the question. "Why was it such a priority to recall Andrew Caruana Galizia who had just got married, on your instructions? The priority for the minister two weeks after taking the oath was to recall Andrew Caruana Galizia. I am going to ask the witness whether he was ordered to do so by the prime minister and/or Keith Schembri."

11:03 Abela: "Yes."

11:03 Azzopardi: "Do we agree that Andrew Caruana Galizia was posted to a high commission abroad at the time?"

11:03 Abela: "When I became minister, I wanted to meet all the employees of the ministry. It was a large-scale task and took a long time. On one occasion, I met Andrew Caruana Galizia with his colleagues and on another occasion he asked to meet me privately in my office."

11:02 Azzopardi: "In 2017, did you meet Andrew Caruana Galizia?"

11:02 Asked if he was aware of Gafa's actions, Abela says there was a newspaper story featuring Gafa with a Libyan person but government's position was that he had no official position within the foreign affairs ministry. "He went to Libya as a private person," says the minister.

10:59 Asked about former OPM official Neville Gafa, Abela says he was not an employee or appointee of his ministry.

10:58 Abela: "What I remember is that there was an inquiry into whether the work was being done according to protocol. It was an administrative inquiry."

10:58 Azzopardi refers to a MaltaToday story on an Italian investigation called Dirty Oil that involved fuel smuggling from Libya via Malta. "There was mention of three internal inquiries by perm secs. Why weren't the police or magistrates involved?"

10:55 Abela: "No, as it was a different ministry that dealt with the matter."

10:55 Azzopardi: "The choice of person issuing visas in Algeria, who turned out to be a relative of the prime minister Muscat was not yours then?"

10:54 Asked about the Algerian Visa racket, Abela says he was not yet minister for the interior when the matter was exposed. "The auditor general had given recommendations for administrative action," he says.

10:53 Abela: "I don't exclude it, because when I was minister, there was more than one car bomb. I don't exclude that there were persons who were indicated to me by the Head of the Security Services."

10:52 Carmelo Abela had testified before Judge Toni Abela about phone interceptions. Azzopardi asks him whether he can recall authorising intercepts about car bombs during his time.

10:52 Abela says he cannot recall whether the Italians had offered technical assistance. "But I cannot deny it either," he adds.

10:51 Azzopardi asks whether Italy had, in 2017, offered technical assistance to solve car bombings. In February that year, Romeo Bone, a known criminal, was maimed after his car was blown up in Msida. Four months earlier, Giovann Camilleri Tas-Sapun, was killed in a car bombing in Buġibba.

10:49 Abela: "If any decisions were taken, I wasn't aware."

10:48 Azzopardi presses saying that he would have been informed by his cabinet secretary or colleagues.

10:46 Abela says he was abroad and didn't have the information.

10:46 Azzopardi says the Caruana Galizia murder took place on a Monday. "Cabinet meets on a Tuesday. What was discussed on that day?"

10:45 What changed from 2016, Azzopardi asks. "From 2016 to 2020 more allegations emerged. I think it was a timely decision [that Mizzi was removed from the PL]," Abela replies.

10:44 Abela: "As I said, I expressed my thoughts directly to the PM when he spoke to me one on one. I was satisfied with the discussion and supported Mizzi."

10:43 Azzopardi: "In May 2016 there was a confidence vote in Konrad Mizzi. Did you speak with the Whip?"

10:42 Lawyer Jason Azzopardi steps in to question the minister.

10:42 The witness says he didn't know about the friendship between Yorgen Fenech and then deputy police chief Silvio Valletta, who was also part of the Caruana Galizia murder investigative team. "I only learnt about this friendship when the news stories emerged in the media," he adds.

10:41 On Jonathan Ferris, Abela says, he left the police force to join the FIAU which didn't fall under his ministry's remit. "I had no contact with him," Abela adds.

10:40 Abela says that contact with the Head of the Security Services was regular because of warrants that needed to be signed. "We wouldn't have specific briefings other than those in the Security Committee, where the PM and Opposition leader would be present. Keith Schembri would not be present for these meetings."

10:39 This exchange is about Operation Green, which was the police investigation into allegations of money laundering involving Konrad Mizzi, following the FIAU report.

10:38 Abela: "No. I only know this from what he told this board."

10:37 Abela is asked whether he knew that former police commissioner Michael Cassar had received a report from the FIAU on Konrad Mizzi at the time the Panama Papers broke.

10:35 Abela: "I was abroad with the president. When I was told, at first I didn't believe it. I was dumbfounded. It is a condemnable thing and I was shocked. I tried to see what the papers were reporting."

10:34 What was his reaction to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia?

10:33 Said Pullicino asks whether Muscat had been betrayed. Abela says the question should be posed to Muscat himself.

10:32 Asked about the resignation of former prime minister Joseph Muscat, Abela says that Muscat had already expressed himself. "He wanted to shoulder responsibility," he says.

10:31 Abela: "As you say, the important thing is to work together... I have no facts to share as to whether there was anyone who crossed the line or not. Working with the commercial sector is good because it creates jobs."

10:30 "The problem is when business friendly becomes money friendly," says Said Pullicino. Did the witness have this feeling, that money was taking over?

10:28 Abela: "The aim of the PL in 2013 was to have an energy plan. I am not a person who has friendships or ties with the business community. I understand that they want to be close, but the important thing is to have a limit. I never knew or met Yorgen Fenech. I didn't know his face."

10:27 Mallia asks the minister whether he was aware of encroachment by businessmen into the party.

10:26 The reference to the MOU is an agreement between Malta Enterprise and some of the VGH investors on a project for the part privatisation of public hospitals that was similar to the eventual request for proposals issued by the government some months later.

10:24 Abela: "The timing of the VGH project, I don't remember, and I might not have been a Cabinet member at the time. What I heard about it came from the media. I was not present for any presentations on the hospitals project. I got to know about the Memorandum of Understanding with VGH through the media."

10:22 The judges are asking about the apparent contradictions. Projects such as those in the health sector are very important and need to be looked at and prepared in detail, Said Pullicino says. "Wouldn't the Cabinet discuss the investors or seek due diligence? Didn't you discuss the financial strength of the investor?"

10:20 Abela: "Cabinet members are notified on projects through memos, followed by a presentation by the minister. I don't think any Cabinet has discussed projects in detail."

10:19 Lofaro: "Was their scrutiny on such projects?"

10:19 Asked about the kitchen cabinet during Muscat's tenure, Abela says that it was natural that the chief of staff of any minister would be close to that minister. "On specific projects which you've mentioned involving Konrad Mizzi, one would assume that the minister would discuss with the prime minister. I would not be present for such discussions. I can't really say," Abela says, pointing out that the Electrogas project was started before he was a Cabinet minister.

10:17 Abela: "Robert Abela entered at a time when the country faced a pandemic. I think he would have preferred to start in another way. Prime minister Muscat had the experience of nearly five years as Opposition leader so he could prepare for these things."

10:16 Abela is asked what difference he sees between Muscat's administration and the present one. "Is there a difference in how they work?"

10:12 Abela says that at the time he was abroad a lot. "When I was in Malta and attended Cabinet, I don't think the issue was raised... but Joseph Muscat had sought one to one meetings with his ministers."

10:11 But Schembri did not resign, point out the board.

10:11 Abela: "What I can say is my view... I felt that it was important that they clear their name before continuing with their duties. I had told the Prime Minister this."

10:10 "There was some complacency or inaction," says Said Pullicino.

10:10 Abela: "I felt that the institutions in our country should be allowed to work in absolute freedom... the police had to be free to start or not start an investigation as they saw fit. Every allegation must be investigated and if sufficient evidence is found, criminal action should be taken... If I did intervene I would be criticised, if I didn't I would also be criticised."

10:08 Said Pullicino points out that some [political] action was taken against Mizzi but not against Schembri. Mizzi was forced to resign from PL deputy leader and had his ministry portfolio truncated by the prime minister, although he was retained as minister within the OPM. On Schembri, then prime minister Joseph Muscat did nothing.

10:06 Abela says it wasn't his role to order the police to investigate. "They were free in their role to investigate and prosecute at will. I was not aware of the Attorney General's go-slow recommendation," he adds.

10:05 Offshore companies are an avenue for money laundering, points out chief justice emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino. "Did you, as home affairs minister, feel the need to speak to them or the police?"

10:04 Abela: "Directly, no. Because we had an explanation from their side. What I remember is that during a parliamentary group meeting, Mizzi had given an explanation..."

10:03 Abela is asked whether he had asked Schembri and Konrad Mizzi about their Panama companies when the Panama Papers story broke.

10:02 Asked about his relationship with Keith Schembri, Abela says he had a working relationship with him. "I don't feel I should pass judgement on whether he had excessive powers, that's up to the individual opinion, but he was a reference point. If someone consults him it isn't necessarily a power, but he had influence, yes," Abela replies.

10:00 Mallia asks whether Abela was spokesman for the Electorgas project when it was announced in 2013. "Not exactly, I was government spokesman... I wouldn't receive any information about this project. The ministry in charge of the project would take care of the project's PR," Abela says.

09:57 Abela: "All I know is that he was appointed chief of staff. It was public knowledge that he was heavily involved in the election preparations."

09:56 Mallia: "After the 2013 election, was Schembri immediately appointed OPM chief of staff?"

09:55 Abela: "I don't know because I met him after the 2013 election."

09:55 He is asked what role Keith Schembri played during the election campaign and before.

09:54 He explains that the PL had made a promise for cheaper electricity and utility bills. "There was a timeline for the new power station, but I don't recall the gas storage tanker [being part of the plan]. The privatisation of the state hospitals was not part of the campaign either," Abela says.

09:53 Judge Abigail Lofaro asks whether the Individual Investor Programme was mentioned. "It hadn't been," he answers.

09:52 Judge emeritus Michael Mallia asks if the hospitals privatisation deal had been mentioned in the electoral campaign. "No, I don't think so," Abela replies.

09:51 Abela says that in December 2014 he became minister for home affairs and national security. This happened after the resignation of then home affairs minister Manuel Mallia. After the June 2017 general election he became minister for foreign affairs.

09:49 Abela: "I was a candidate in 2013. My first election was in 1996. I was a candidate again and I had a role of shadow minister. After 2013, I was appointed Whip of the parliamentary group. Some months later I was also given the role of government spokesman and started to work at the Office of the Prime Minister."

09:48 He is asked about his previous senior roles in the Labour Party and the 2013 electoral campaign.

09.45 The sitting begins and Minister Carmelo Abela is summoned to the stand. He takes the oath.