Valletta, Malta  - The foreign ministers of Italy, Libya and Malta are to meet on December 5 to discuss illegal immigration and oil exploration in the waters between the three countries, it was stated Monday.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Libyan Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgem will be meeting in Malta at the invitation of Foreign Minister Tonio Borg.

Borg told Parliament Monday this was the first time that concrete proposals had been made on the delineation of the waters for oil exploration purposes.

He warned, however, that failure of talks on this subject could see the countries concerned taking their case to the International Court of Justice.

The subject of oil delineation areas in the Mediterranean has been a historically delicate one between Malta and Libya though the situation appears to have calmed down as the smallest EU state recently identified two new offshore sites for drilling.

On the other hand, Italy and Malta have frequently blamed the North African country for doing little to stem the tide of illegal immigrants leaving from its shores.

Libya has so far also refused to contribute in any way to the EU's border patrols in the centre of the Mediterranean.

Five corpses recently recovered at sea off Malta remain unidentified, though police are almost certain they are those of African immigrants who left Libya and failed to make it to Europe. (dpa)