Albanian Civil War


The Albanian Civil War was a period of civil disorder in Albania in 1997, sparked by pyramid scheme failures. The government was toppled and more than 2,000 people were killed. It is considered to be either a rebellion, a civil war, or a rebellion that escalated into a civil war.
By January 1997, Albanian citizens, who had lost a total of $1.2 billion took their protest to the streets. Beginning in February, thousands of citizens launched daily protests demanding reimbursement by the government, which they believed was profiting from the schemes. On 1 March, Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi resigned and on 2 March, President Sali Berisha declared a state of emergency. On 11 March the Socialist Party of Albania won a major victory when its leader, Bashkim Fino, was appointed prime minister. However, the transfer of power did not halt the unrest, and protests spread to northern Albania. Although the government quelled revolts in the north, the ability of the government and military to maintain order began to collapse, especially in the southern half of Albania, which fell under the control of rebels and criminal gangs.
All major population centres were engulfed in demonstrations by 13 March and foreign countries began to evacuate their citizens. These evacuations included Operation Libelle, Operation Silver Wake and Operation Kosmas.. The United Nations Security Council, in Resolution 1101, authorised a force of 7,000 troops on 28 March to direct relief efforts and restore order in Albania. The UN feared the unrest would spread beyond Albania's borders and send refugees throughout Europe. On 15 April, Operation Alba was launched and helped restore rule of law in the country. After the unrest, looted weapons were made available to the Kosovo Liberation Army, many making their way to the Kosovo War.

Terminology

The period has been described as a civil war, brink of civil war, and a near civil war, an anarchy, while others assert it was not a civil war at all.

Causes

In 1992, the Democratic Party of Albania won the nation's first free elections and Sali Berisha became president. In the mid-1990s Albania was adopting a market economy, after decades of a Stalinist command economy under the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. The rudimentary financial system became dominated by Ponzi schemes, and government officials endorsed a series of pyramid investment funds. By January 1997, the schemes could no longer make payments. The number of investors who had been lured by the promise of getting rich quick grew to include two-thirds of the population. It is estimated that close to $1.5 billion was invested in companies offering monthly interest rates ranging from 10%–25%, while the average monthly income was around $80. A significant number of Albanians sold their homes to invest, and immigrants working in Greece and Italy transferred additional resources to the schemes.

1996 elections

On 26 May 1996, general elections were held and the Democratic Party won by a large margin. The Socialists accused the government of fraud and rejected the results. PS left the counting process and boycotted the parliament. On 20 October local elections were held. The Democratic Party won again, but the Socialists also rejected this result.

Pyramid schemes

The pyramid schemes started operations in 1991. Their activity was based on making payments to old investors using money contributed by new investors. The first scheme was that of Hajdin Sejdisë, who later fled to Switzerland with several million dollars. It was followed by "Sudja" of shoe factory worker Maksude Kadëna in 1993, then the "Populli" foundations run by an opposition politician, and "Xhaferri". By the end of 1996 the schemes peaked. The interest rates they offered were very tempting; Sudja offered 100% interest. The schemes were not criticised immediately because of a banking law adopted in 1994 which—on International Monetary Fund advice—contained no provision that the National Bank of Albania act as a supervisor of commercial banks. The IMF changed that advice two years later, after the consequences had become visible. Despite IMF advice to close these schemes, the government continued to allow their activities, often participating in them. Between 8–16 January 1997 the schemes collapsed. On 22 January the government froze the Xhaferri and Populli firms. "Gjallica", another firm, was nearly bankrupt, while "Vefa", which had invested in Albanian hotels, fuel and factories, continued normal activity.
The first protest was on 16 January in the South. On 19 January in Tirana demonstrators protested the Sudja creditors. On 24 January the de facto rebellion began. Thousands of people in Lushnja marched on city hall in protest against the government's support of the schemes. The protest quickly descended into violence. Police forces were routed and the city hall and adjoining cinema were burned. One day later, on 25 January, Democratic Party chair Tritan Shehu was sent to Lushnje to resolve the situation. On his arrival he was held hostage for several hours at City Stadium and assaulted by the protesters. Albanian Special Forces units intervened to extract Shehu. By the morning every government institution in the city was looted and destroyed, except for the Interior Ministry building, which was protected by the Director of Communications, seven of his engineers and a guard who refused to abandon his post.
On 26 and 27 January violence erupted in other southern towns, such as Vlora. On 30 January the Forum for Democracy was formed by opposition parties to lead the protests. Anger was also directed against Berisha and the government for allowing the schemes to continue despite IMF advice. As allegations grew that Berisha and others in government had personally profited from the schemes, many became convinced that the Democratic Party had to be removed by force. This was especially true in Vlora. On 4 February distribution of a portion of lost money began at the counters of the National Commercial Bank, owned by the state. Rather than quieting the protests, this action increased people's suspicion. A check for $550,000 paid by the "Gjallica" firm on 7 January to the Socialist Party accelerated the firm's collapse. On 5 February Gjallica declared bankruptcy and on 6 February violent protests resumed in Vlora. On 9 February state police were attacked in Vlora and a day later, also in the south, 50 Special Forces troops attacked and brutally dispersed protesters.

North-South conflict

One of the main themes of Western media and analysts during the March riots was the north-south division. Various newspapers and TV stations claimed that the rebellion was not just a showdown between the two main political forces but a clash between the northerners who supported Berisha and southerners who supported the Socialist Party.

Hunger strike at the University of Vlora

On 20 February 1997, about 50 students at the University of Vlora began a hunger strike on campus; they demanded the government's resignation and the full return of invested money. On 22 February the Forum for Democracy declared its support for the strike. Students from Gjirokastër and Elbasan also came to give their support. They were then driven by the FRESSH activists of Vlorë to Tirana. In contrast, the students of University Luigj Gurakuqi in Shkodra did not take part, and its Students Union declared, "The students share the pain of the citizens of Vlora in losing money in pyramid schemes, but on the other hand, think that freedom and democracy, homeland and nation have a higher price".
On 26 February thousands of people surrounded the building of the university to defend it from a rumoured attack by SHIK, the national intelligence service. The same day a group of strikers requested more medical help, raising doubts about the doctors near them. On 27 February in Vlora Shkodra, mayor Bahri Borici of the United Right declared his support for the hunger strike. The next day was a decisive moment in Albanian history—after strengthening their perimeter around the building of the university, the rebel forces, without warning, attacked the SHIK building. In fighting between the rebels and government forces, nine people—six officers and three civilians—were killed. This incident marked the start of a ten-day civil war and a year of violence in southern Albania.

Looting and opening of weapon depots

The Opening of the depots was the opening of weapons depots in the north, for protection against the violence of the south. The decision was taken by President Berisha. When southern Albanian bases were looted, it was estimated that, on average, every male from the age of ten upwards had at least one firearm and ample ammunition. To protect the civilians in north and central Albania, the government allowed civilians to arm themselves from government arms depots. During the rebellion 656,000 weapons of various types, and 1.5 billion rounds of ammunition, 3.5 million hand grenades and one million land mines, were looted from army depots.
At Selitë in Burrel, an explosion occurred at an arms depot on 29 April after a group of villagers broke into the depot. 22 of the 200 village residents died, most of the victims coming from the same family.

Treasury robberies

On 28 March the United Nations adopted Resolution 1101 for humanitarian aid to Albania, and on 15 April Operation Alba forces began to arrive, finally withdrawing on 12 August. About 7,000 soldiers in the multinational Italian-led UN mission came to Albania to restore order and rule of law. The first forces were deployed in Durrës. Normality first returned to Tirana. An element of the Operation Alba forces stayed in place, retraining the military to modern standards; this unit was joined from mid-May by members of WEU's Multinational Albanian Police element, doing the same with the police after restructuring the legislative base which caused the problem.
Involved were:

Evacuation operations

Peacekeeping

As part of peacekeeping operations, Italy sent 7,000 soldiers, France 850, Greece 803 soldiers,, Turkey 500, Romania 400, Germany 100 and Austria 100 soldiers.

Snap elections

In the run-up to the 29 June snap election for Parliament, more than 60 people were killed. Socialist Party allies won the election, including in Tirana. Many members of the "Salvation Committees" stood for office, despite earlier promises to remain out of politics. The same election included a referendum on the form of governance. Republican government outpolled the monarchy by 65-35.

Armed groups

Gangs

Taking advantage of the difficult situations, criminal groups armed themselves and took control of entire cities. Most had been imprisoned in Greece, but suddenly escaped and returned to Albania. The most famous case is that of Zani Caushi, who escaped from the high-security prison of Larissa in February 1997 and, with a group of friends, established the gang of Çole in Vlora.
In Vlora five gangs were created, but two ruled the city: the gang of Zani and the gang of Gaxhai. Movement in the city started at 10:00, when people gathered in Flag's Square to hear the Committee of Rescue, and ended at 13:00. After that hour the streets were deserted and the only people who moved were gang members. Gangs announced through speakers and flyers that other people were not to go out as there would be fighting. Each night brought attacks with explosives and shooting, leaving dozens dead. In Berat Altin Dardha's rule was even more severe. In Lushnje Aldo Bare's gang had control. The worst crime that this gang committed was to behead an opponent. Cities ruled by gangs were Vlora, Berat, Tepelena, Memaliaj, Ballshi, Saranda, Gjirokastra, Lushnja, Pogradec, Cerrik and Tropoja.
Salvation Committees were organizations created during the 1997 Albanian Civil War. They were established in many regions of the country in order to usurp the functions of the Albanian state. However, they were most influential in the south, where early in the crisis the local Salvation Committees merged to form the National Salvation Committee and demanded the removal of President Sali Berisha. Many committees were based on local organisations for the Socialist Party of Albania and saw themselves as protectors of democracy against authoritarian one-man rule, but the contemporary Albanian government viewed them as similar to Communist-era local party organisations and therefore a potential threat of returning to Communist rule.

Timeline

January

According to Christopher Jarvis, there were 2,000 killed. According to Fred C. Abrahams, between March and May 1997 some 1,600 people were killed, most in shootouts between rival gangs. An UNIDIR document claimed more than 2,000 killed in March alone.

Aftermath

Damage from the rebellion was estimated at US$200 million dollars and some 3,700 to 5,000 wounded. Lawsuits were filed against the bosses of the rogue firms. Various members of the government, including Safet Zhulali and Agim Shehu, were sentenced in absentia.
In elections in June and July 1997, Berisha and his party were voted out of power, and the leftist coalition headed by the Socialist Party won. The Socialist party elected Rexhep Meidani as President of the Albanian Republic. All UN forces left Albania by 11 August.