The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.18           May 5, 1997 
 
 
Italian, Greek Troops Take Up Positions  

BY NATASHA TERLEXIS
ATHENS, Greece - "Operation Dawn," the imperialist military intervention in Albania led by the Italian government along with eight other regimes in Europe, has begun to spread out across the country. Some 2,500 soldiers have now taken position there as part of an expected total of 6,000 troops, in addition to hundreds of armored personnel carriers and tanks. They are encamped mainly in Tirana, Durres, and Fier.

More than 1,000 soldiers of the UN-sanctioned multinational intervention force landed in the port city of Durres April 15. About 120 Greek and an equal number of Italian soldiers have moved from Fier into Vlore April 21, according to newscasts on Greece's SKY radio, which also reported shooting against Italian soldiers outside of Fier. Vlore is the hotbed of the rebellion that began nearly three months ago against the pro-capitalist regime of Albanian president Sali Berisha.

Albert Shyti, a leader of the Committee for the Salvation of Vlore, told the Albanian daily Koha Yioft, "While foreign troops are welcome, they cannot disarm the insurgents who have taken up arms in self-defense and who will not surrender them unless President Berisha resigns." Shyti also repeated the rebels' demands of the adoption of a new electoral law, new elections, and equal access to radio and television. He warned hundreds of people participating in a recent rally in Vlore, "Go get your guns and take up defense positions."

The National Front for the Salvation of the People is made up of representatives of the various citizens councils that run Vlore and the other the Albanian cities where workers and farmers have taken up arms against the Berisha government. It held a meeting with Gen. Girolamo Giglio, the commander of the Italian military force that landed in Vlore April 21.

The Italian armed unit included 570 marines, infantry, and Carabinieri police, as well as several armored vehicles. Another 100 Greek troops traveled by road through the northern part of Albania and took control of a disused military airport near Vlore. Earlier, when a small force of 25 Italian marines arrived in Vlore to "inspect the harbor," they were greeted by "a group of about 50 Albanians," some of whom were shouting "Down with Berisha," according to the April 18 Athens News.

Under the guise of providing security for the delivery of "humanitarian aid," the imperialist powers participating in the military occupation force, as well as Washington, aim to crush the working-class rebellion in Albania and to restore capitalism in that country.

The only way the intervention could get "approved by the United Nations was to say it was for humanitarian assistance," asserted Jean-Marie Boucher, the World Food Program manager for the Balkans.

In the last month, the Red Cross has delivered more than 40 tons of food and 15 tons of medical supplies across the country, without using any military escorts. "We've not had a single incident. There's nowhere we have not been able to go," declared Nina Winquist-Galbe, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross. "There is no famine here. Not a single person is starving," she added. The revolt was sparked by a dire economic crisis and the collapse of fraudulent government-backed "investment" schemes, into which a third of the population had poured money and many of whom lost their life savings. The insurgents demand Berisha's resignation, democratic reforms, and compensation.

In whole areas of the country, including most major cities in the southern region, the population is armed and does not recognize the authority of the president or the month-old government of national reconciliation. The regime includes Berisha's Democratic Party, as well as the opposition Socialist Party, both of whom favor pro- capitalist "reforms." It was this government that called for an international intervention force in order to strengthen its position and disarm the rebellious working people.

In the insurgent cities, however, the toilers have held their ground. In Elbasan, the Greek daily Kathimerim reported that of the 18,000 Kalashnikov rifles taken from armories, only 3,000 have been retrieved.

On April 18, a Greek tank carrier with two dozen armored personal carriers, supply trucks, and more than 100 soldiers was ordered by the Italian command to dock in Durres and not Vlore. The reason given by the Italian command was the possibility of mines in the port. Two days earlier, Italian troops were attacked by armed men outside of Vlore. Vlore is considered to be "very dangerous" and "concerns remain over how Vlore's population, especially the uncontrolled gunmen," will receive the military occupiers, according to the Athens News. Rivalry between Athens and Rome for a larger role in the imperialist force is combined with this fear of how working people will react to the force's deployment.

A worker with a Kalashnikov rifle guarding the headquarters of the Committee of National Salvation in Vlore told London's Financial Times, "the Italians have robbed us for centuries." When asked what he would do if an Italian soldier tried to disarm him, he replied, " I would skin him alive and his mother would cry for him in Italy." Albania had been a colonial possession of Rome, and was occupied by Italian forces during World War II.

Reflecting friction between the imperialist powers, the Government Council for Foreign Policy and Defense (KYSEA), presided over by Greece's prime minister, asserted that the multinational force was not being adequately coordinated and that the Italian regime has been unable to deploy the troops properly. Athens also proposed that "an ad hoc political committee be formed by France, Greece, and Italy to oversee preparations for elections in Albania, and the disarming of the rebels." In an interview with SKY radio on April 20, Greek defense minister Akis Tsochadjopoulos stated that because deployment was moving too slowly, Athens would, "on its own initiative," begin distribution of food to the areas of the South where the Greek minority lives in time for Greek Orthodox Easter. Athens views the existence of this minority as an opportunity to play a larger role in the area. He also said the number of Greek soldiers in Albania could reach 1,000. The government of Italy is providing the largest contingent with 2,500 troops, France 1,000, Turkey 700, with Spain, Romania, Austria, and Denmark also participating.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Sixth Fleet of NATO's Southern Command is not far away in the Adriatic.

The provisional government, headed by the Socialist Party's Bashkim Fino, agreed to hold elections on June 29. Franz Vranitsky, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) representative in Albania, has been involved in patching together a new election law for Albania. It changes the system of proportional representation used in the elections to one that weighs the election results in favor of the highest vote-getters, enabling the formation of a stronger government.

Making little headway in convincing working people to surrender their arms, imperialist forces and the Fino government have retreated from their position that the insurgent cities must be disarmed before elections can take place. Instead they hope that the elections - and the multinational force - will pave the way to regaining control of the country. Helweng Petersen, president of the OSCE, said that "re-establishment of trust toward the authorities is a precondition for disarming the people." After the election, Petersen said, the OSCE will examine how the disarming of the rebels "can practically be done." Berisha does not agree, however, and continues to call on the parties of the opposition to disarm the rebels. In a statement to the press, the Democratic Party said that it disagreed with holding elections on June 29. It said the "dissolution of the committees of the rebels is a precondition for holding elections." Divisions have also deepened within the Democratic Party. At least 12 of its deputies have now joined in calling for Berisha's ouster.

Stories of the methodical arming of Berisha supporters continue to appear in the press in Albania, according to the Greek daily Eleutherotyrpia. Armed gangs loyal to Berisha continue to carry out terrorist acts. Gunmen have reportedly shot up a hospital in Lushnje. In Vlore, a hotel housing journalists was reportedly attacked while a leader of the National Front for the Salvation of the People was giving an interview.

Intervention has continued to polarize politics in Italy. Besides the Communist Refoundation Party, the Republican Party also has opposed the deployment of Italian troops in Albania. Giorgio La Malk, leader of the RP, in an interview with Italy's daily Coriere de la sera, said, "The problem in Albania is political and it is called Berisha. The real problem is not hunger, but the conflict between supporters and opponents of Berisha." Meanwhile, Clemente Mastela, leader of the Christian Democratic Center, which supports Berisha, in a speech to the Italian parliament denounced "Greek nationalists who are pressing Italy and which have hegemonistic aims" in Albania.

In Thessaloniki, northern Greece, hundreds protested as the first troops boarded the warship Samos heading for Albania, in an action organized by the Communist Party. More than 300 people participated in a rally and march to parliament in Athens on April 17, shouting "Not one soldier to Albania!" The action was organized by the Committee in Solidarity With the Rebels in Albania.

Natasha Terlexis is a member of the federation of Foreign Airline Employees in Athens. Militant staff writer Maurice Williams contributed to this article.  
 
 
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