Albania Parties Agree Strategy on Marty Report

MPs from opposition and ruling majority are to present a united front in the Council of Europe assembly against report that criticises Albania.

Besar Likmeta

Tirana

Arben Ahmetaj, a Socialist MP, said Albania's normally warring parties had hammered out a joint position for their delegation to the Council of Europe, ahead of an assembly discussion on the Dick Marty report.

"We aim to form a common position," the opposition MP said.

The Marty report, released in December, linked former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters, including Kosovo's Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, to organised crime and accused them of harvesting the organs of Serbian prisoners and others in Albania.

The Council of Europe Rapporteur criticised Albania for allegedly not cooperating in investigating the alleged abuses mentioned in the report.

A resolution based on the report, approved by the Council of Europe on December 16, is expected to go before the assembly for a vote on January 25.

Apart from the Albanian delegation, the Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha is expected also to attend the assembly debate and make a speech countering Marty’s allegations.

Politicians in both Kosovo and Albania condemned the report of the Swiss senator as baseless but have declared they will not impede any possible investigation launched into the allegations contained in it.