Albanian Rebels Refuse To Surrender Arms

Armed militants in this southern coastal town said Friday that they would not hand over weapons and ammunition despite an appeal by the government and main opposition parties aimed at ending a week of violence.

The leader of the newly formed Committee for the Protection of Vlore said the group, which has arranged night patrols throughout the town, will not “lay down our arms until our demands are fulfilled.” The two principal demands, he said, are that President Sali Berisha resign and new elections be set.

The response was issued a day after Berisha’s government gave citizens 48 hours to turn in all weapons and offered amnesty to those who did.

The collapse of fraudulent investment schemes in which thousands of Albanians had placed their savings has spurred protests throughout the country. Those demonstrations erupted into anarchy last weekend as rioters seized weapons from police and army depots and looted shops.

The government responded by pouring security forces and tanks into the region and staging at least one airstrike. More than 20 people reportedly have been killed, at least 16 of them in Vlore.