ALBANIA: TEPELENA: REBEL LEADERS PLAN THEIR NEXT MOVES

(21 Mar 1997) Albanian/Nat

Rebel leaders in southern Albania met Friday to plan their next move after President Sali Berisha's refusal to resign.

Rebel leader Gjolek Malaj said they would be discussing ways to oust Berisha from power.

Albania's rebel leaders arrived Friday in Tepelena - 100 miles (160 kms) south of the capital Tirana - to map out their next move in the country's increasingly complicated power struggle.

The rebels, escorted by armed bodyguards, represent the local council groups from 12 districts of Albania's rebel-controlled south.

Their ultimatum for Berisha to resign expired Thursday and the rebels will decide in this meeting what to do next.

But the rebels - who fomented the unrest that began in January over the collapse of high- risk investment schemes - repeated their demands for Berisha to stand down.

SOUNDBITE: (Albanian)
"We have to discuss the same problems we discussed at the last s meeting - how to find a way to remove Berisha from power."
SUPER CAPTION: Gjolek Malaj, rebel leader from Tepelena

Malaj did not say whether the rebels were poised to form and independent, self-styled government in the south.

The warlords' meeting is the fourth since insurgents formed a united front named the National Salvation Council two weeks ago.

As the rebels discussed the future of Berisha, a crowd gathered outside the building where they were meeting.

The crowd was addressed by a representative of the local intelligentsia, Xhaserr Majko, who asked the crowd to back Prime Minister Bashkim Fino.

Majko told the crowd they should support Fino's caretaker government, which he said was moving away from President Sali Berisha and more towards the people's point of view.

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