Word: berisha
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...uprisings that spread north to overtake the capital of Tirana last week were outbursts of lawlessness more than any kind of movement, since the insurrection has no command. President Sali Berisha clung to office, but he could hardly cling to power. At one point Skender Gjinushi, an oppositionist who had just met with the President, remarked, "Berisha accepted that he has no national control. He has no army, no police...
...this is a war, it has no generals, no strategy and no real fighting. The crackling of rifle fire and phantasmagoric skylines lit by tracer rounds coincided with scenes of civilians strolling normally or sitting in cafes. Scared politicians of assorted parties got together with Berisha to issue pleas for public restraint. For all the good they were doing, they might as well have yelled into the wind. Politicians had no credibility with slapped-together committees of insurgents, which in turn had no control over countless people newly empowered by Kalashnikovs...
...collapse, the U.S. and several European nations staged dramatic evacuations of their citizens. Italian helicopters ferried out many, while ships from the U.S. Sixth Fleet sent choppers into the American compound in Tirana. When the flights began drawing ground fire on Friday, evacuations were suspended for the day. But Berisha had already sent his daughter Argita and son Shkelzen to Italy on a commandeered ferry...
With a standoff shaping up, Berisha sat down for five acrimonious hours on Thursday with opposition political leaders in the capital, Tirana, then agreed to a two-day halt in military operations in the south. He is offering amnesty to citizens who turn in their weapons and have not committed crimes, which he did not define...
...Berisha should be worried. Albania's European neighbors and the U.S. certainly are. They have been lecturing him on the need for a peaceful settlement, and they are sending emissaries to try some cool-headed mediation. To make it work, the rebels will have to moderate their demands, and Berisha will have to switch to a more conciliatory approach. If they do not, the next step is likely to be into a real civil...