Albania Struggles To Provide Aid Amid Near-Anarchy

Looted warehouses and empty prisons left officials struggling Wednesday to find a way to get humanitarian aid past the armed gangs terrorizing much of Albania, while southern rebels ruled out using force for the first time in their bid to oust President Sali Berisha.

At least three more people were killed Wednesday in the southern city of Korca, which has been caught between rival organized-crime gangs.

But southern rebels backed away from threats of further violence.

Comments by Xhevat Kociu, the top commander of the rebel-held south, increased the chances that weeks of turmoil could soon end.

The crisis in Albania, which began with anti-government protests after nearly every Albanian family lost money in the collapse of shady investment schemes, has grown into near-anarchy.

Kociu said that southerners still would work to force Berisha out but “we are planning to do this in a democratic fashion.”

The former general told Associated Press Television in the southern town of Saranda that Albania’s 12 rebel-controlled districts of the south would meet Friday to chart their next moves.

Kociu’s comments followed signs of support for Berisha both from the government led by Prime Minister Bashkim Fino and from a newly established vigilante force calling itself the Committee of National Salvation.

Warning Fino against trying to negotiate with rebels in the south on Berisha’s resignation, the vigilante force said it would mobilize thousands of armed men to punish those who incited mayhem.

In a statement, it said it was “determined to protect under any circumstances all the democratic institutions of the country, property and the freedom of citizens from a possible military attack.”

Europe was trying to contain the turmoil that has wracked Albania for 2-1/2 weeks, with Italy returning 292 would-be refugees Wednesday, saying they were suspected of criminal activities.

Albania protested that the returnees surpassed the agreed-upon number of 200, and many turned out to be children or adults with no criminal records whatsoever, said Justice Minister Spartak Ngjela.

He said Albania’s 1,700 prisoners - including 700 hard-core criminals - have been freed, and nearly all its courthouses burned and their judicial files destroyed.

The government’s first priority was to restore the courts, police, prosecutors and prisons, Ngjela said.

A delegation from the European Union stressed the need to re-establish security before aid shipments can begin.

Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said that EU officials want a “security force” to accompany humanitarian aid.

“Aid will have to be accompanied by a security force to make sure that it reaches the right destination,” Dini said after meeting with members of an 11-member EU factfinding delegation.