Partnership

The Associated Press in Washington takes a specific angle to the Maltese Prime Minister's visit to the United States. From The Jerusalem Post, 'Malta offers Palestinians desalination technology':

Malta's prime minister offered help Monday to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, saying his Mediterranean country's experience could be used to build a seaport and a plant to desalinate water for drinking. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said providing such basic facilities would serve as a way of reducing tensions in the region. He spoke to reporters after meeting at the White House with US President George W. Bush.

Gonzi said the meeting served to reaffirm the partnership that exists between Malta, the smallest state in the 25-nation European Union, and the United States. He said he had been in touch with the special coordinator for Gaza, former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, on Malta's proposal to help the Palestinians. Wolfensohn represents the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, the powers trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem.

"Tensions in the region are unlikely to subside as long as a real, serious problem remains unaddressed - provision of a reliable water supply to a territory that has none," Gonzi said in a speech at the National Press Club. He said Malta once faced a serious water shortage and has developed technology to desalinate seawater that it is willing to share with the Palestinians through "an appropriate partnership."...