Rioting Ends in Albania With Military Taking Control

Security forces Saturday maintained control of towns hit by anti-government rioting, and Albania’s first independent political party sought permission from the Marxist regime to try to avert new unrest, party leaders said.

There were no reports of fresh violence in the small Balkan nation. States of emergency remained in effect in at least five towns, and movement into and out of the towns was prohibited by the military and police, police sources said.

“According to our activists in those areas, the situation is calm,” said Gramoz Pashko, an economics professor at Tirana’s Enver Hoxha University and a key organizer of the new Democratic Party, which has condemned the unrest.

He said party leaders Friday night requested a dialogue with the regime of President Ramiz Alia “on how to solve the situation.”

Among other proposals, the party wants to send members to trouble spots to persuade residents to support a peaceful transition to democracy after 45 years of Stalinist-style police rule, Pashko said.

Party leaders said they believe the rioting was the result of pent-up frustration and disenchantment with Albania’s severe economic problems and decades of harsh Marxist rule.

Alia agreed Monday--after three days of student protests--to permit independent parties in a gradual loosening of the Communist bonds.

Observers said protesters may have seen the government’s decision to allow individual parties as a signal it would tolerate opposition. The formation Tuesday of the Democratic Party, which has yet to be legally recognized by the regime, apparently provided the spark for the disturbances.