Police believe that the bomb that killed a prominent journalist in Malta as attached beneath her car and triggered remotely with a mobile phone, a government spokeswoman has said

Daphne Caruana Galizia, a renowned blogger and fierce critic of the government, died on Monday in a blast that wrecked her car as she was leaving her house in Mosta, throwing debris and body parts into a nearby field.

‘Emerging evidences make us think that the bomb was placed under the car and was set off with a remote trigger,’ a government spokeswoman said on Thursday, adding that foreign experts would be called on to help identify the mobile phone which was used to detonate the bomb.

The murder shocked the Mediterranean island, the smallest nation in the European Union, and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Wednesday promised a reward to anyone who came forward with information about the killing.

However, Caruana Galizia’s three adult sons dismissed the offer, and called instead for Muscat to resign, saying he should take political responsibility for the first such murder of a journalist in Malta since the island won independence in 1964.

Daphne Caruana Galizia, a renowned blogger and fierce critic of the government, died on Monday in a blast that wrecked her car as she was leaving her house in Mosta

Daphne Caruana Galizia, a renowned blogger and fierce critic of the government, died on Monday in a blast that wrecked her car as she was leaving her house in Mosta

The wreckage of the car of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia lies next to a road in the town of Mosta, Malta, on Monday

The wreckage of the car of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia lies next to a road in the town of Mosta, Malta, on Monday

The wreckage of the car of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia lies next to a road in the town of Mosta, Malta, on Monday

In a news conference in Valletta, police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar denied British police would join Dutch forensic experts and a team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in helping with the case

In a news conference in Valletta, police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar denied British police would join Dutch forensic experts and a team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in helping with the case

In a news conference in Valletta, police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar denied British police would join Dutch forensic experts and a team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in helping with the case

Muscat has ruled out quitting and flew to Brussels on Thursday for an EU summit, where his spokeswoman said investigators were making some progress.

In a news conference in Valletta, police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar denied British police would join Dutch forensic experts and a team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in helping with the case.

Muscat’s spokeswoman earlier said British officers would be involved.

Cutajar said no arrests had made so far and added it was too soon to discuss possible motives, telling reporters it would take weeks to collect all the evidence.

He also could not confirm reports from a Maltese police source that Semtex explosives were believed to have been used in the killing.

The island has seen a number of small bomb attacks in recent years tied to gangland criminals, but the explosives used were relatively rudimentary and did not have the same power as the device that targeted Caruana Galizia. 

Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia

Matthew Galizia

Matthew Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia (left), Malta’s best-known investigative journalist, was killed on Monday when a powerful bomb blew up her car. Her son Matthew (right) has called on the Prime Minister to resign 

Galizia, 53, ran a hugely popular blog in which she relentlessly highlighted cases of alleged corruption, often involving politicians from the Mediterranean island of Malta. Police said she was killed as she was driving near the village of Bidnija in northern Malta

Galizia, 53, ran a hugely popular blog in which she relentlessly highlighted cases of alleged corruption, often involving politicians from the Mediterranean island of Malta. Police said she was killed as she was driving near the village of Bidnija in northern Malta

Galizia, 53, ran a hugely popular blog in which she relentlessly highlighted cases of alleged corruption, often involving politicians from the Mediterranean island of Malta. Police said she was killed as she was driving near the village of Bidnija in northern Malta

Caruana Galizia’s three sons have refused to endorse the government’s million euro reward for information about her death and instead called for the Prime Minister to resign.

Galizia, 53, ran a hugely popular blog in which she relentlessly highlighted cases of alleged corruption, often involving politicians from the Mediterranean island of Malta.

Police said she was killed as she was driving near the village of Bidnija in northern Malta.

A Facebook post from Matthew Galizia, also signed by his brothers Andrew and Paul, said: ‘After a day of unrelenting pressure from the President and Prime Minister of Malta for what’s left of our family to endorse a million-euro reward for evidence leading to the conviction of our mother’s assassins, this is what we are compelled to say.

‘We are not interested in justice without change. We are not interested in a criminal conviction only for the people in government who stood to gain from our mother’s murder to turn around and say that justice has been served. 

A Facebook post from Matthew Galizia, also signed by his brothers Andrew and Paul, said: 'We are not interested in justice without change'

A Facebook post from Matthew Galizia, also signed by his brothers Andrew and Paul, said: 'We are not interested in justice without change'

A Facebook post from Matthew Galizia, also signed by his brothers Andrew and Paul, said: ‘We are not interested in justice without change’

European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans take part in a candlelight vigil in memory of Malta's journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday

European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans take part in a candlelight vigil in memory of Malta's journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday

European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans take part in a candlelight vigil in memory of Malta’s journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday

Muscat defended the failure to solve the rash of car bombings as he left parliament Wednesday evening

Muscat defended the failure to solve the rash of car bombings as he left parliament Wednesday evening

Muscat defended the failure to solve the rash of car bombings as he left parliament Wednesday evening

‘Justice, beyond criminal liability, will only be served when everything that our mother fought for – political accountability, integrity in public life and an open and free society – replaces the desperate situation we are in.’

He added: ‘The government is interested in only one thing: its reputation and the need to hide the gaping hole where our institutions once were. This interest is not ours. Neither was it our mother’s.

‘A government and a police force that failed our mother in life will also fail her in death. The people who for as long as we can remember sought to silence our mother cannot now be the ones to deliver justice.

‘The Prime Minister asked for our endorsement. This is how he can get it: show political responsibility and resign.

‘Resign for failing to uphold our fundamental freedoms. Resign for watching over the birth of a society dominated by fear, mistrust, crime and corruption.  

Matthew Caruana Galizia (centre) and Peter Caruana Galizia (second left), son and husband of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia,  walk past the wreckage of the car bomb

Matthew Caruana Galizia (centre) and Peter Caruana Galizia (second left), son and husband of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia,  walk past the wreckage of the car bomb

Matthew Caruana Galizia (centre) and Peter Caruana Galizia (second left), son and husband of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, walk past the wreckage of the car bomb

Investigators, meanwhile, are looking at similarities with other car bombings in Malta over the last two years - six in all including Caruana Galizia's

Investigators, meanwhile, are looking at similarities with other car bombings in Malta over the last two years - six in all including Caruana Galizia's

Investigators, meanwhile, are looking at similarities with other car bombings in Malta over the last two years – six in all including Caruana Galizia’s

‘Resign for working to cripple our mother financially and dehumanise her so brutally and effectively that she no longer felt safe walking down the street.

‘And before resigning he can make his last act in government the replacement of the Police Commissioner and Attorney General with public servants who won’t be afraid to act on evidence against him and those he protects.

‘Then we won’t need a million-euro reward and our mother wouldn’t have died in vain.’

Investigators, meanwhile, are looking at similarities with other car bombings in Malta over the last two years – six in all including Caruana Galizia’s. None have been solved.   

Police commissioner John Rizzo told the Malta Independent that it appears that mobile detonated explosives were used in each of the six bombings since the start of 2016, which caused four deaths and two serious injuries. The previous victims were all known to police, the paper said.   

Malta has a population of 400,000 and is the European Union's smallest state. Pictured, a resident's graffiti in tribute to the fearless journalist  

Malta has a population of 400,000 and is the European Union's smallest state. Pictured, a resident's graffiti in tribute to the fearless journalist  

Malta has a population of 400,000 and is the European Union’s smallest state. Pictured, a resident’s graffiti in tribute to the fearless journalist  

Recently, Caruana Galizia's outspoken blog had turned its fire on opposition politicians

Recently, Caruana Galizia's outspoken blog had turned its fire on opposition politicians

Recently, Caruana Galizia’s outspoken blog had turned its fire on opposition politicians

‘Very few people could construct such a bomb. Instructions may be obtained online but building such a device would still require a certain degree of skill,’ Rizzo said.

Investigators haven’t publicly identified which explosives were used in the journalist’s murder, but experts say any military grade explosives, like Semtex, are not available in Malta and would have had to be brought in from abroad.

Muscat defended the failure to solve the rash of car bombings as he left parliament Wednesday evening.

‘I will continue to defend the institutions and I am a firm believer in the institutions,’ he said.

Malta has a population of 400,000 and is the European Union’s smallest state.

Recently, Caruana Galizia’s outspoken blog had turned its fire on opposition politicians.

‘There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate,’ she wrote in the last blog published on her site on Monday morning. 

In another entry last year, she wrote: ‘Malta’s public life is afflicted with dangerously unstable men with no principles or scruples.’

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk