THE PACE of the refugee exodus from Albania quickened yesterday as people desperate to leave their anarchic country packed into anything that floated, and paddled or sailed out to sea.
The Albanian government appealed to a visiting European Union mission for urgent financial aid to restore the country after weeks of unrest, saying it was facing a serious food crisis after government grain stocks were looted.
In Tirana, the Finance Minister, Mr Arben Malaj, told a news conference he had asked the visiting EU delegation for financial aid. He declined to mention a figure but admitted it had "shocked" delegation members.
An alliance of 11 political parties repeated an appeal for President Sali Berisha to step down. In the south of Albania rebels who seized arms and took control of the region in fury, blaming the government for a string of investment scheme collapses, have given Mr Berisha until March 20th to quit. It was not clear how they intended to back the threat.
The Parliament speaker, Mr Pjeter Arbnori, described the ultimatum as an attempt to destabilise the country and called for all political parties to observe a national reconciliation accord, signed with Mr Berisha last week.
The situation in the capital was returning to normal although a night curfew remained, but there were more chaotic scenes on the coast as hundreds of would-be refugees clambered aboard rusting hulks without motors.
The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said more than 2,500 fled to Italy yesterday, more than on any single day to date, adding to nearly 10,000 who have already reached Italy and Greece.
The chaos in the Adriatic prompted marine insurance writers in London effectively to declare the area a war zone liable to increased premiums.