AS A MOTLEY collection of rusting Albanian gunboats, fishing vessels and ageing river craft staggered into ports on the Puglia coastline yesterday, Italy was again preparing last night for a massive influx of Albanian refugees.
An Italian warship carrying up to 900 people evacuated from Albania docked yesterday in Brindisi. Nationals from a number of countries were on board the amphibious assault ship, San Giusto including Italians, Americans and Croats, as well as Dutch, Germans and Canadians. A 68-strong British and Irish group included Irish Times reporter, Seamus Martin (see his report on page 1).
As the Albanian flotilla was arriving, the former Austrian chancellor, Dr Franz Vranitzky, leading a peace mission for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), called for an international military force to be sent to Albania.
Dr Vranitzky made his call after separate meetings with the new Albanian Prime Minister, Mr Bashkim Fino, and representatives of rebel committees from 11 Albanian towns. The meetings took place aboard the Italian navy vessel, Liseo, anchored off the southern Albanian coast. President Sali Berisha, who said he would neither resign nor leave Albania (despite rumours that he had already fled), did not attend the meetings.
Dr Vranitzky is due to report to an OSCE executive meeting in Vienna this morning.
The ever-worsening situation in Albania, which is reduced to near-anarchy, prompted the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva to call on Italy to accept fleeing Albanians. At least 14 Albanian boats landed at the ports of Bari, Brindisi, Otranto and San Cataldo yesterday. Among the arrivals in Brindisi were the deposed Defence Minister, Mr Safet Zhulali, his wife, and their 14-year-old daughter. They arrived just hours after two children of President Berisha, Argita (25) and Sokol (19). The minister and the Berisha children were taken to a secret location.
These arrivals and reports that more boats, including one battleship and several fishing vessels, are headed for the Italian coast, have prompted fears that Italy might be about to face an invasion similar to that of the summer of 1991, when more than 50,000 Albanians arrived in Puglia.
Last night port authorities in Brindisi said they had accommodation ready for 500 people in the port itself, with ancillary arrangements for many more in the surrounding area. The port authorities confirmed that no one would be turned back and that food and shelter would be offered to all.
Earlier in the day, the large-scale evacuation encountered serious problems when Albanian gunmen fired on US, German and Italian helicopters.
The Pentagon said a shoulder-launched missile and anti-aircraft gun were fired at a Marine Cobra helicopter and another Cobra came under small-arms attack and returned fire. All helicopters involved in the operation returned to their ships.
Germany sent five military helicopters to rescue 105 of its nationals and other Europeans. One Albanian was injured when German troops traded fire with local gunmen who shot at the evacuees and the aircraft.
Earlier an Italian military helicopter involved in the airlift was "hit by small-arms fire over Tirana, but no-one was hurt.
Despite these attacks, an Italian Foreign Office spokesman yesterday reported it had brought out more than 1,000 foreigners over the last 48 hours.
Mr Fino said Albania's secret police chief, Mr Bashkim Gazidede, had resigned, and his government was now in charge of the national state of emergency.
"The situation is serious, but not beyond resolution," the President, Mr Berisha told AFP by phone from Tirana, stressing he would do "the maximum to avoid a civil war".
At least 11 people have been shot dead in Tirana and nearly 150 injured since Thursday, hospital spokespersons said.
In Montevideo, President Chirac of France urged the EU to "accept its responsibility" and urgently study how to respond, but the German Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, said he was against a European military intervention.
The Dutch Prime Minister, Mr Wim Kok, speaking for the EU presidency, also came out against any EU intervention.
The Macedonian defence minister, Mr Blagoj Hadzioski, toured Macedonia's border with Albania and said authority across the frontier had collapsed.
"There are too many people armed with various weapons, including hand grenades, and this includes little children," he said.