Radovan Karadzic, Sarajevo is not your city, and you have no right to say that it is, just as you do not have the right to say in public, even if it’s in court, that someone has dug up bones around Bosnia and brought them to Srebrenica to make a fake graveyard. This is insulting.
Albania Investigation Into Arms Trafficking
| 02 April 2008 |
Last week the New York Times alleged that senior Albanian politicians,
including Prime Minister Sali Berisha and former Defence Minster Fatmir Mediu, were
involved in the international trade of weapons.
The article accuses Albanian officials of murky deals with United States-based
AEY Company, which had its contract with the U.S. military revoked last week
amid claims by the paper it was supplying decades-old ammunition to the Afghan
army.
Much of these munitions came from Eastern Europe, including
Berisha, however, slammed the allegations, saying that they "should be
used for toilet paper.”
It is alleged Tirana and AEY used a third company, Cyprus-based Evdin Ltd., a
company subcontracted by Albania’s trading giant, MEICO, to coordinate the deal
between the Albanian military and AEY.
The New York Times alleges the state-owned company Head of MEICO, Ylli Pinari,
doubled the real price of the munitions and pocketed the difference which was
shared among Albanian politicians.
The report was published just days after a series of blasts at an army depot in
the
Opposition leaders blame the government for the incident and have also accused
Berisha of a cover-up over the depot blast.
Three people have been arrested and charged with negligence over safety
regulations.
Pinari, along with Mihal Delijorgji, the head of Alba Demil, the Albanian
subcontractor for United States-based Southern Ammunition Company, have both
been detained, as has Dritan Minxholi, the Alba Demil director at the depot.
Former Defence Minister Fatmir Mediu is also under investigation for the depot
blasts and it is expected that his parliamentary immunity will be lifted
shortly after the NATO summit in
