Wednesday, November 14, 2007

ALBANIA, THE GREAT RISK TO COME BACK TO “CIVIL WAR OF 1997”
“The precedent to re start the destabilization of the country"

Some Months ago, the Prime Minister Sali Berisha urges by the "Inquiring Police Section" of Interior Ministry to open all the crimes made during period of “Extraordinary Situation” of Albania during 1997 period, after collapse of Pyramids Schemes. According to Albanian opposite the inisiative of Prime Minister Berisha is very dangerous because could come back the Civil War in Albania, provoking a large conflict between Northern and South of the county. Decides of arrests begun in Cerric, a little town near Schumbini River 50km from Tirana under accuse for Massacres during 1997 against “The Republican Guard”.

Photo: The Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi accompanied by head of rebels Zani Caushi during his visit in Vlora on April 12, 1997.

But every thing is going to be officially open from Persecutors now, when in Saranda Town, southern Albania, begun the arrests under accuse “Massacres made in 1997 against police authority”. Hundred police Special Forces come from Tirana in collaboration with police station of Saranda and Vlora, arrested about 25 persons and others are incurring for all the crimes made in 1997, said the Albanian press. In addition, according to information, the police forces could make arrests in all Southern Albanian Territory, including Vlora, Argjirokaster, Berati, Fieri, Koritca ect. “The Civil War of 1997 in Albania known as “Extraordinary Situation of 1997” could come backagain if Special Forces will continue the actions”said many annalists of the country.

Photo: American citizens board a U.S. Marine Corps CH-53 Super Stallion combat assault helicopter in a field inside the U.S. Embassy housing compound in Tirana, Albania, on March 15, 1997. Operation Silver Wake is the evacuation of noncombatants from Albania to ensure the safety of American citizens and designated third country nationals. U.S. Naval forces from the USS Nassau (LHA 4) Amphibious Readiness Group continue to evacuate citizens from the U.S. Embassy in Tirana. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brett Siegel, U.S. Navy.
The catastrophic situation of Albanian economy under the inflation to vergrown to 8%, the energetic collapse of the country and over alls the situation in Kosovo to the limit ofthe status of Independence during the end of December is passing the country again under ful of strong measures obsserving from NATO alleance. According to OSCE report based from estimates of “The ALBA Operation 1997” the Multi International Protectorate Forces installed in Albania by ONU Resolution of March 11, 1997, are about 8000 killed during “Civil War of Albania” only in Vlora Region has been killed about 1600 persons.
ALBANIA 1997 The rebellion against President Berisha
Anywhere, the geopolitical annalists based to the Security and Stability of the Balkan Region comment often the dangerous situation of “Domino Effect” after proclamation of Independence of Kosovo as "infected zones" including particularly states as Macedonia, Bosnia and Albania. According the experience of 1997 and 1998 (The Coup D`etat), Albania is the country, which the stability is not controlled well from government authority even about 1200 NATO troops arei nstalled and hundreds of Europol agents are working to special operation against Organized Crime.

The Special Report of CNN of 1997:

"Albanian troubles expose north-south differences"
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9703/11/albania.split/index.html

Albanian troubles expose north-south differences

March 11, 1997 Web posted at: 9:45 p.m. EST (0245 GMT)
From Correspondent Siobhan Darrow


VLORA, Albania (CNN) -- The people of Vlora, the southern stronghold of Albania's rebellion, are trying to put their revolt in order, inviting local police officers loyal to their cause to help reign in the chaos. The rebels, who have named themselves the Salvation Committee, say they won't surrender to this government or any other until their demands are met.
"We'll only find a solution to this problem when the main issue, which is financial, is solved," said Alberto Bukir, head of the Salvation Committee in Vlora. "All political solutions are a bluff." Government troops have dug in north of the Shkumbin River, pulling back to the historic fault line dividing this river country's two major ethnic groups: the Ghegs in the north and the Tosks in the south. Their differences threaten to split the country in two, although neither group says it wants to fight the other.



Just across the Adriatic from Italy, Vlora has always been more open to the outside than the more insular north. When communism collapsed, not all those influences were good. Drug trafficking and smuggling flourished in the town, and it became known as Albania's crime capital. Impatient to live the lives they now see via satellite television, the wealthier Tosks were easy prey for get-rich-quick pyramid schemes. They had more to lose when those schemes collapsed.


And the man they blame, President Sali Berisha, is a Gheg from the north.
"The Tosks provided the leaders of the Communist Party, and the Ghegs felt they lost out in the competition for power," political analyst
Mark Almond said. That gap was something Berisha quickly made up for when he came to office, filling security ministries and the parliament forces with his northern brethren, and fueling distrust in the south.


To an outsider, the whole country may look lost in a time warp. But to the cosmopolitan Tosks in the south, the north is a backwater. The Ghegs are mountain people still deeply rooted to their traditions; they are more isolated and less sophisticated than their southern neighbors. But like the Tosks, the Ghegs say they don't want the current civil strife to turn into a fight between the two groups. "We haven't fought in the past," said one middle-aged man. "We have been united and must stay that way. There are too few of us Albanians."
Albania's Tosks and Ghegs have lived in relative harmony for centuries. But with the country now practically split in half, their differences could be exploited by parties uninterested in peace.




Also International References for "Albania Civil War1997:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/albania.htm
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9701/27/albania/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9703/06/albania.late/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9703/03/albania/
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9703/04/albania.emergency/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9703/13/albania.evac

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Security News

Photo: The US Ambassador accredited to Albania, HE Mr. John L. Withers II, welcomed by the NATO Senior Military Representative, Brigadier General Anastasios Rintis.

ALBANIAN SECRET SERVICE “SHISH” CALLS FOR MORE FINANCES

The head of Albanian Secret Service Bahri Shaqiri, during a meeting with the member of Security National Commission of Albanian Parliament has spoken for the necessary of much more finances for SHISH. “For the next budget of 2008, SHISH need about 4.5 Million Euros, to be in total efficiency, regarding the ulterior developments in Balkan Region ” Shaqiri said.

“Even the meeting was closed for the media, the High Represent of Albanian National Security was very preoccupied for tensions in the area border particularly from the north” seeing the Status Final of Kosovo, underlines the Newspaper “SHQIP”. According to media, is not clear if the finances would use to fights corruption and organized crime or to another very important direction such is the Terrorism Islamic in the area, one of must important mission of SHISH after 2001 with American and European Secret Services.

ALBANIA BUYS 4 MILITARY SHIPS FROM “DAMEN SHIPYARDS”

4 Military Ships will buy Albania from Holland in total of 31 Million Euros to modernize Albanian “Coast Guard Forces”, said the Defense Minister of Albania Fatmir Mediu during meeting with represent of “Damen Shipyards” Rene Berkvens. One of the ships will product in Holland when other three will build in Vlora Naval Base of Orikumi next years.

Is not very clear if the modernization of Albanian Naval Forces is under the observation of NATO experts but one month ago Spain, has refused to sell military ships for Albania.The old Naval Base in South Western of Albania across Italy, Vlora`s Bay, installed in Orikum under “Varsavia Agreement” in 1957 to protect the Russian Submarines, is reconstructed from Turkish Naval Forces after collapse period of 1997, when the Albanian military ships used as clandestine transportation to Italy.
THE GREEK PRESIDENT KAROLOS PAPULIAS HONORED FROM ARGIROCASTRO MUNICIPALITY

Argirocastro, November 13, 2007

The Greek President Karolos Papulias is Honored as "Argirocastro Citizen" from Municipality of Argirocastro, a Center Region of Southern Albania. The head of Argirokaster Municipality Flamur Bine addressed to the Greek President during ceremony where was present many personalities of the region, from the Greek Minority and greek officials as "great friend of albanian people".
In fact tow years ago, Papulias annuled an official visit in Albania, when hundert member of Chameria Community used pressing for his visit in Saranda Town. Next week, Papulias has inviated the albanian counter part Bamir Topi to visit Athens. The bilaterar relations between Athens and Tirana are delevoping under important changes in Balkan Region, particularly for Kosovo Issue, where Greece is palying an important diplomatic role as member of NATO and EU.
According to information the albanian president will claim the suport by Athens for Kosovo Indipendence, the albanian emigrant status in Greece, the continuing of the economic aids particularlty for energy and the stabilisation suport proces to NATO and EU of Albania prespective. Also Topi means to deviate the "Chameria Issue" during the meeting.
The greek president requests would be in epicenter of Greek Minority as guaranty of bilateral relations between Tirana and Athens. Athens is obsserving "under special attention"
all the problems of the human rigths regarding the proprietes of greek minority in albania, the greek investiments ecct. Papulias has been greek soldger on the front against Italian Fascist invasion in Octobber 1940 in Southern Albania (Northern Epirus)

Bakoyannis briefs President Papoulias on foreign affairs issues
Athens,
Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis met President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias on Tuesday and briefed him on current foreign affairs issues.The briefing included the latest developments in Kosovo, which were relayed to Bakoyannis the previous day by the Russian Federation's representative in the Kosovo mediation troika, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko.The foreign minister said that Greece would contribute as far as possible to finding a solution in Kosovo through dialogue.Bakoyannis also briefed the president on developments surrounding the dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) over the name issue, in view of a new round of talks and the imminent arrival of UN mediator Matthew Nimetz in Athens and Skopje.Other issues covered by Bakoyannis in the meeting were developments in neighbouring Turkey and the agenda for talks due to take place in Athens next week between the Greek government and visiting Albanian President Bamir Topi.
Plan to integrate migrants
Ministry hopes for smoother transition of foreigners into community
The Interior Ministry will launch a program aimed at helping to integrate the country’s 900,000 legal foreign residents into the community through initiatives in education and employment, according to Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
The 2007-2013 program will cost 50 million euros in the first year and will be mostly funded by European Union funds.
“It is the first complete program put together with the object of smooth and fast induction into the community of migrants that legally reside in our country,” said Pavlopoulos. “The basic innovation is in connecting migrants with growth and prosperity in all sectors,” he added.
Attica, central Macedonia, the Peloponnese, Crete and central Greece are home to the largest populations of foreigners.
Nearly six in 10 of the country’s new residents come from Albania, according to the ministry, with Bulgarians, Romanians and Ukrainians next on the list.
An influx of immigrants into Greece between 1991 and 2001 caused the population to swell by around 700,000 and at least another 170,000 are believed to have settled since 2001, according to the Hellenic Migration Policy Institute (IMEPO).
Greeks have so far been divided as to their stance on migrants.
A VPRC poll earlier this year showed more than half (54 percent) of those polled said they thought immigrants had boosted the Greek economy, while 56 percent blamed them for the country’s high jobless figures.
Just over 60 percent believe that migrants should be allowed to vote, while only 47 percent said they should have the right to to run as political candidates.
According to the Interior Ministry, the new program, titled Estia, will also aim at stamping out incidents of racism and xenophobia by raising community awareness on migrant issues. The Interior Ministry also said it will set up a migrant policy and social induction department.

Sunday, November 11, 2007


Balkans: Macedonia clashes 'signal wider unrest'
Police display confiscated weaponry in Skopje, Nov. 9 (photo credit: MIA)
Belgrade and Skopje, 9 Nov.(AKI) – Macedonian police clashes with “criminal bands” on Wednesday in which six ethnic Albanians were killed and 13 arrested may signal wider conflict in the region, political and military analysts said on Friday. The police swept mountainous area near the town of Tetovo, bordering Serbia’s breakaway Kosovo province, in search of armed bands which have been operating in the area. After a ten-hour shootout, six “criminals” were killed, police said, and a cache of heavy and light weapons were discovered.The weapons seized on the Sara Mountain were to be displayed to foreign military attaches in Skopje on Friday, police minister Gordana Jankulovska was quoted as saying by the MIA news agency. The police said most of the bandits involved in Wednesday's clashes recently escaped from jail in neighboring Kosovo, which has been under United Nations control since 1999. They bandits had been sentenced for various crimes and Macedonian authorities suspect they were helped to escape by ethnic Albanian guards, several of whom had been arrested afterwards.But despite Skopje’s insistence on the criminal aspect of the Wednesday shootout, a mysterious Tetovo-based organization calling itself 'The Political-military organizational committee of Kosovo liberation armies' said in a statement they were “forced to organise themselves into regular military units to defend the Albanian people and its territories”. Ethnic Albanians, who make about 25 per cent of Macedonia’s two million population, rebelled in 2001, but the dispute was settled by the Ohrid peace accord which granted them greater rights and regional autonomy.Tetovo, with predominantly ethnic Albanian population, was the centre of the rebellion and the police said most of those killed on Wednesday were spearheading the 2001 uprising. The Tetovo organisation said in the statement there would be no peace in the Balkans until all ethnic Albanians living in the region were free to unite with Albania.The unrest in Macedonia coincided with growing support from Western powers for majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, who demand independence from Serbia, despite strenuous opposition from Belgrade. A prominent Belgrade military analyst, Miroslav Lazanski, said Kosovo independence would provoke a domino effect in Macedonia, Montenegro and even Greece, which have a sizeable ethnic Albanian minority.“That means Macedonia is next,” Lazanski told Serbian news agency Tanjug. “Encouraging separatism and Kosovo's independence will surely raise tensions in Macedonia and spread the conflict there,” he said. “The high tide of violence and separatist ambitions” will later spread to Montenegro, Lazanski warned. “When you encourage one, others come forward with the same demands and they will not stop until they are all united in a Greater Albania,” he said. “What’s common to all Albanian political organisations is that they are a part of a single Albanian national plan in the Balkans,” said another analyst, Aleksandar Radic. Meanwhile, Kosovo ethnic Albanian leaders have warned that incidents like the one in Tetovo were detrimental to their independence drive and called for restraint.The Albanian foreign ministry in Tirana condemned violence in Macedonia and appealed to local authorities not to use excessive force in areas populated by ethnic Albanians. NATO airstrikes in 1999 drove out Serbian troops amid ethnic fighting and gross human rights abuses during a two-year war with ethnic Albanian guerrillas. Hundreds of thousands of refugees fled to Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro. Thousands of people died in the conflict.