ALBANIA - NO "FAREWELL TO ARMS"

AIM Tirana, 5 September, 1997

When in March this year, the Albanians took all the light and heavy armament from army warehouses, quite a few predicted that the future of Albania would smell of gunpowder. They were not mistaken. In five months, and that is how much time has passed since formation of the coalition government and the early elections, the weapons from tunnels constructed by Enver Hoxha caused thousands deaths and terrorized the population in the south and the north of the country. Used to numerous military drills during the 50 years of Hoxha's rule and life resembling that in military barracks under totalitarian socialism, inhabitants of the southern Balkan state discovered that there is no end to evil and that the civil war was near at hand.

Indeed, it is still very difficult to determine whether the events which Albania experienced in March this year were anarchy caused by the fall of the state, revolt of the people who had lost the last money they had in pyramidal systems, or an undeclared civil war in which the South had risen against the North. Many things have remained unclarified, much has been said and denied, but nevertheless one thing is certain: the price of everything that has happened was too high, and the consequences are still deeply felt. Among other, about 700 thousand pieces of firearms of all kinds are still hidden in secret corners at homes, in attics or cellars, or sent into channels of what is believed to be the most profitable trade, in the direction of neighbouring countries.

Ninety per cent of army warehouses had been broken into. In the first two weeks of March, an enormous quantity of arms and ammunition of all calibres were taken out of them. Tunnels constructed during the communist era under mountains for storage of the vast arsenal of missiles, explosives or explosive devices of great destructive force were opened. Army airport in the south of the country was attacked and snatching away of all old MIG 19 planes of Chinese and Soviet origin was attempted. Some of the planes were seen in yards of farms of peasants who live near by. They had hauled the planes with their tractors and guarded them with arms, although they had never flown a plane. But, collective frenzy did not end there. In Lushnje in the south of the country, depots where low radioactive material for military purposes was kept were opened, and this threatened the lives of those who got hold of it - most of whom were children under age. About three million offensive bombs were also snatched away by the inhabitants, and later killed tens of innocent civilians. About a million mines are still in the hands of the Albanians. The entire grand army arsenal which had cost Enver Hoxha and his ideological friends, the Soviet Union and China, a few billion dollars, unexpectedly found itself at the mercy and in the hands of three million Albanians, which the state had absolutely no control of any more.

The former minister of defence, who was at the post for the past five years, Safet Zhulali, returned to Tirana a few days ago. Political parties and the press accused the former minister as one of those who were mostly to blame for the fact that the army fell to pieces in February and March. He had fled to Italy five months ago, taking his family along in a boat full of refugees, and thus this close associate of president Berisha turned into a symbol of failure of the green uniform and the Albanian state itself headed by anticommunist democrats. His return from the USA where he had found temporary refuge, made the front pages of journals which had for a long time written about the minister of defence without an army.

Zhulali's arrival coincides with the debate which had started on the political scene about the manner of collecting weapons from the population. The debate which will probably take long, in view of the slow rate with which the government has started collecting weapons and its limited capabilities to achieve this goal. The "position" and the opposition which resulted from the elections of 29 June, seem to disagree about this issue. While the majority formed by the Socialists and the centre wish to collect arms by strengthening the legislature and with the help of the police, the rightist opposition of former president Sali Berisha proposed registration and issuing temporary permits for the arms they already possess. According to the Democrats, this would help collect information about the real quantities of arms held by the citizens and avoid further abuse of weapons. There were even proposals to buy arms from those who had taken possession of them.

The debate about collecting the army arsenal was in the meantime envenomed by the question of militant members of the Democratic Party armed during the months of chaos when it was in power. A few lists revealed recently show that branches of the Democratic Party in the capital and the districts armed its members and sympathizers, including high officials of the Democratic Party and the state. Deputies, high state officials and their families appear in these lists as persons who had taken Kalashnykov automatic rifles, revolvers and light machine-guns. Genc Pollo, the current secretary general of the Democratic Party had taken a TT type revolver, deputy Azem Hajdari took six pieces of firearms and the son of former president Berisha is listed for having taken four Kalashnykov automatic rifles. The scandalous list of VIPs soon turned into a political issue and was used abundantly by the new winners in the elections who spoke about the "armed party", despite anything of the kind being explicitly banned by the Albanian laws on political parties. Minister of internal affairs Neritan Ceka ordered collecting of about four thousand pieces of arms which appeared in these lists and according to the official figures, by the end of August, 95 per cent of these weapons were returned.

That is how the Democratic Party was disarmed, but how will three million Albanians be disarmed? This is the most complex question for the government of Fatos Nano. Along with the order on collecting arms from Berisha's supporters, ministry of defence issued on 4 August the order about surrendering arms by 30 september. Those who surrender arms by this time limit will not bear any legal consequences, but after that date, legal regulations will be applied. The article of Criminal Law on possessing firearms without a permit prescribes up to five years of prison, and many people will come under the implementation of this article if the low rate of collecting arms registered so far is taken into account. By the end of august, in police stations around the country, about 15 thousand out of the total of 700 thousand Kalashnykovs, rifles, light and heavy machine-guns, shells and ammunition of all kinds were collected. On the other hand, there is also the phenomenon of surrendering only a part of the armament and keeping the rest. Many Albanians had taken more than one pieces of firearms from army depots, which makes the evaluation of disarmament even more difficult. The concealed ammunition seems to have started to flow into the network of trade with neighbouring countries - Greece, Italy and Macedonia. News arriving from customs offices on land and at sea speak about large quantities of arms discovered with gangs and merchants who are trying to sell them at a high price.

Disarmament remains a Gordian knot which will obviously accompany Albania after the year 2000. As a result of a historical misfortune of this nation, it is expected that this problem will take a very long time to be resolved, and perhaps never be completely settled.

AIM Tirana

Skender Minxhozi