UK Edition
Ten people were arrested in Malta on Monday in connection with the murder of crusading anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was blown up by a powerful car bomb near her home two months ago.
The operation involved Maltese police, soldiers, sniffer dogs and helicopters.
Mrs Caruana Galizia had made enemies within both the government and opposition with her revelations of alleged corruption and money laundering in her blog, Running Commentary.
She had accused the wife of Joseph Muscat, the prime minister, of receiving €1 million from Azerbaijan’s ruling family and stashing the money in secret offshore accounts in Panama – allegations which the premier vehemently denies.
The arrests were announced by Mr Muscat, who said the suspects were all Maltese nationals and some had prior criminal records. Two of the suspects were identified by the Maltese media as brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio.
They were arrested in an area called Massa, outside the capital, Valletta. The prime minister declined to say whether the suspects had commissioned or executed the murder, which shocked the tiny country and prompted concern from the EU about the extent of corruption.
"I have a clear idea of what they did and who they are, but I cannot give out more details at this time," he said.
Mr Muscat, who had described the journalist as his biggest adversary, reiterated his commitment to bringing her murderers to justice.
"As I stated as soon as I learnt about this barbaric act, we will leave no stone unturned to get this case solved," he said. "I am committed to doing so more than ever."
The police have 48 hours to question the suspects, then either charge them or release them.
Mrs Caruana Galizia, 53, was blown up by a car bomb as she left her home on October 16.
Speculation about the motives for her murder range from her investigations into Malta’s booming online gaming sector, to the alleged funneling of money from Azerbaijan in return for the granting of lucrative energy deals, to the smuggling of fuel out of Libya, to Malta’s sale of passports to wealthy foreigners.
Police in Malta were helped by experts from the FBI, Europol and Finland in their investigations.
In the days after her murder, the three sons of Mrs Caruana Galizia demanded the resignation of the prime minister and said the arrests of whoever killed her would mean nothing unless it went hand-in-hand with rooting out corruption.
They accused Mr Muscat of “watching over the birth of a society dominated by fear, mistrust, crime and corruption.”
They have repeatedly expressed concerns that her death will be explained away as a criminal murder in an attempt to bury any connection with the political elite.
Before her death, Mrs Caruana Galizia had expressed fears for her life, writing on her widely-read blog that there were “crooks everywhere” in Malta.