Assassination plot in Albania
Source: Agencies |
January 31, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ALBANIA police said yesterday they had detained three people suspected of conspiring to murder a top opposition leader at an anti-government protest, as the -opposition said it would not back down from its -campaign against the Albania ruling party for alleged corruption.
The three people detained were planning an attack during a Friday protest march called by Socialist Party leader Edi Rama to honor three supporters killed during a massive demonstration earlier this month, police said.
One of the suspects threatened Rama after his vehicle was damaged during the chaotic January 21 rally, police said in a statement. A court in Tirana, capital of Albania, ruled yesterday that the men could be kept in detention for a month pending further investigation.
The opposition said yesterday it would resume protests in Tirana and then continue in other cities, although no dates have been set. Rama insists on the resignation of Prime Minister Sali Berisha's government and claims that the conservatives rigged the 2009 vote.
Berisha has refused to resign and said the opposition is trying to stage a coup.
Rama repeated his call to the international community to intervene to stop what it called the government's attacks on independent institutions. The opposition is angry over a request by a parliamentary committee formed by the governing Democrats to see telephone records of opposition lawmakers, the country's president, its prosecutor general and the head of the secret police as part of an investigation of the deadly clashes.
Tensions rose this month when the country's deputy prime minister Ilir Meta resigned amid allegations he tried to influence a state tender for a power station.
Three people were shot dead and more than 150 protesters and security officers were injured in the January 21 clashes.
The three people detained were planning an attack during a Friday protest march called by Socialist Party leader Edi Rama to honor three supporters killed during a massive demonstration earlier this month, police said.
One of the suspects threatened Rama after his vehicle was damaged during the chaotic January 21 rally, police said in a statement. A court in Tirana, capital of Albania, ruled yesterday that the men could be kept in detention for a month pending further investigation.
The opposition said yesterday it would resume protests in Tirana and then continue in other cities, although no dates have been set. Rama insists on the resignation of Prime Minister Sali Berisha's government and claims that the conservatives rigged the 2009 vote.
Berisha has refused to resign and said the opposition is trying to stage a coup.
Rama repeated his call to the international community to intervene to stop what it called the government's attacks on independent institutions. The opposition is angry over a request by a parliamentary committee formed by the governing Democrats to see telephone records of opposition lawmakers, the country's president, its prosecutor general and the head of the secret police as part of an investigation of the deadly clashes.
Tensions rose this month when the country's deputy prime minister Ilir Meta resigned amid allegations he tried to influence a state tender for a power station.
Three people were shot dead and more than 150 protesters and security officers were injured in the January 21 clashes.
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