MALTA: Gaddafi to the Rescue

When one love-smitten member of Malta's 55-man Parliament neglected legislative duties last week for marriage and a brief honeymoon, Prime Minister Dom Mintoff promptly told the entire house to take a five-day recess. There was nothing festive about the holiday. Maltese opinion is sharply split over Mintoffs order that British troops either pay higher rents or quit the island (TIME, Jan. 10). With tensions rising as his Jan. 15 deadline approached and with only a one-vote parliamentary advantage, Mintoff was afraid to risk a vote of confidence while the groom —one of his own Labor Party supporters—dallied elsewhere.

Evacuation. The...

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