On security

From today's Financial Times, Bush urges Malta to sign up to security pact. By Guy Dinmore in Washington:

When the president of the world's superpower meets the prime minister of the European Union's smallest member, what do they talk about? "Terrorism," says Malta's Lawrence Gonzi after a 40-minute meeting with President George W. Bush, joined by Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, and Stephen Hadley, national security advisor.

Malta, strategically placed on the southernmost flank of Europe and close to North Africa, is also the world's eighth largest ship registry. As a result, Mr Bush urged Mr Gonzi to sign up to the Proliferation Security Initiative, a US-led network of governments that agree to cooperate in the interdiction - by land, sea or air - of illicit materials, particularly related to weapons of mass destruction. Mr Gonzi told the FT he had no objection in principle to Malta joining PSI...

Mr Gonzi said Libya was also a major topic, stressing that he wanted to encourage the US in opening up the country following Muammar Gaddafi's decision in December 2003 to get rid of his weapons of mass destruction...Malta is now trying to position itself as a "platform" for US energy companies breaking into the Libyan market...