Prime Minister Dom Mintoff was hailed as "Is-Salvatur ta' Malta' (Malta's savior) last week as he returned home to a celebration with waving flags, palm fronds and giant portraits of himself. Even Mintoff's enemies had to agree with his boast that he had won a "great victory." After nine months of will-he-or-won't-he negotiations with Britain, he had finally signed an agreement extending for another seven years Britain's right to use Malta as a naval base. Mintoff did not get the $72 million in annual rent that he had originally demanded, but he did get a handsome $36.4 million—about three times what...
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