Albanian PM furious at CoE rapporteur

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has hurled more serious accusations at Council of Europe (CoE) Rapporteur Dick Marty. Following the adoption of the report on the human organ trafficking by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), he referred to the Swiss senator's report a "racist", and said that the "anti-Albanian propaganda had started in Serbia under Slobodan Milosevic". Albanian PM furious at CoE rapporteur “I want to stress again that Dick Marty's report is racist. I also want to stress that these allegations are nothing new. They started with Milosevic's propaganda after the NATO attack on the Balkans' Saddam. These claims have been investigated and proven false,” the Albanian PM said after a government session Wednesday, reported Albania's news agency ATA. He added that “Albania was completely open to having every inch of its territory investigated over the claims in Marty's report.” Marty said Berisha's unusually grave accusations were unfounded. “It is understandable that in the Balkans I get accused of being an instrument of the Serbs or the Russians. This a well-known pattern, where a foreign enemy is fabricated in order to strengthen one's rule. These insults are not only vulgar, but are also political abuse of the report for the purpose of solving domestic problems Berisha is facing in Albania," Marty told BBC. The Albanian PM was supposed to attend the PACE session but he decided not to go due to the political crisis in Albania. The report that was used a basis for the PACE resolution accused ethnic Albanian KLA of kidnapping Serbs and other civilians in Kosovo, illegally imprisoning them in Albania in 1999 and 2000, and removing their organs for sale in the black market. Sali Berisha (FoNet, file) “Investigation first, then negotiations” Meanwhile in Pristina, New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) assistant leader Ibrahim Makoli urged Kosovo officials to delay talks with Belgrade until the justice system responds to all of the allegations in Marty's report, which PACE adopted along with an accompanying resolution. “The resolution is a political document, hindering and blocking the start of talks between Kosovo and Serbia and reconciliation in the stormy Balkans,” he said, according to the media in Pristina. Makoli said that the AKR wanted the European Commission (EC) to form an international commission which would investigate all crimes committed in Kosovo. “We have no reason to fear an investigation. On the contrary, we are very interested in bringing the truth about Kosovo to the international public,” he stressed.

Albanian PM furious at CoE rapporteur

“I want to stress again that Dick Marty's report is racist. I also want to stress that these allegations are nothing new. They started with Milošević's propaganda after the NATO attack on the Balkans' Saddam. These claims have been investigated and proven false,” the Albanian PM said after a government session Wednesday, reported Albania's news agency ATA.

He added that “Albania was completely open to having every inch of its territory investigated over the claims in Marty's report.”

Marty said Berisha's unusually grave accusations were unfounded.

“It is understandable that in the Balkans I get accused of being an instrument of the Serbs or the Russians. This a well-known pattern, where a foreign enemy is fabricated in order to strengthen one's rule. These insults are not only vulgar, but are also political abuse of the report for the purpose of solving domestic problems Berisha is facing in Albania," Marty told BBC.

The Albanian PM was supposed to attend the PACE session but he decided not to go due to the political crisis in Albania.

The report that was used a basis for the PACE resolution accused ethnic Albanian KLA of kidnapping Serbs and other civilians in Kosovo, illegally imprisoning them in Albania in 1999 and 2000, and removing their organs for sale in the black market.

“Investigation first, then negotiations”

Meanwhile in Priština, New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) assistant leader Ibrahim Makoli urged Kosovo officials to delay talks with Belgrade until the justice system responds to all of the allegations in Marty's report, which PACE adopted along with an accompanying resolution.

“The resolution is a political document, hindering and blocking the start of talks between Kosovo and Serbia and reconciliation in the stormy Balkans,” he said, according to the media in Pristina.

Makoli said that the AKR wanted the European Commission (EC) to form an international commission which would investigate all crimes committed in Kosovo.

“We have no reason to fear an investigation. On the contrary, we are very interested in bringing the truth about Kosovo to the international public,” he stressed.