TIRANA - Rebel leaders in southern Albania issued a fresh call for President Sali Berisha to resign yesterday, but drew back from an earlier threat to set up a rival government.
Representatives of 14 rebel-held southern towns who have formed themselves into a National Committee of Public Salvation said they were ready to cooperate with the new interim national unity government under Mr Bashkim Fino.
But they called for a voice in national political discussions and demanded that the government "neutralise" institutions helping Mr Berisha remain in power, such as the state-run media and the Shik secret police.
Mr Fino has drawn up a bill to reform the Shik, but this could be blocked in parliament by Berisha's Democratic Party.
The rebels met in the southern town of Tepelene after Mr Berisha ignored a Thursday deadline they set for him to quit. The embattled president says he will step down if his party loses elections scheduled for June.
