An officer of the Malta police's Administrative Law Enforcement unit patrols the countryside to prevent illegal hunting in the south-east of Malta May 12, 2007. The Maltese government surprised bird hunters on Thursday when it did an abrupt U-turn and said it was halting, with immediate effect, the traditional spring hunting season which had almost two weeks to run. The European Union earlier this year instituted infringement proceedings against Malta, arguing that spring hunting violated its Birds Directive.
REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi (MALTA)