Albanian authorities have arrested two former leaders of the old Stalinist government and more arrests are expected, Albania's main opposition party says.
The arrests could not be independently confirmed. They followed an anti-Communist rally attended by about 25,000 people at a stadium last week.It was the largest such demonstration in Albania since strikes in May forced the ruling communists in the Party of Labor - now the Socialist Party - to share power despite an election victory in April.
The Democratic Party, in a telex received Sunday in Vienna, said Manush Myftiu and Kino Buxheli were detained Saturday and brought to prison in Tirana, Albania's capital.
Their arrests were witnessed by prison workers, whose accounts were reliable, said the telex. Both are former Politburo members and held other high offices, it said.
The telex Sunday cited sources as saying more arrests of former Politburo members associated with Stalinist excesses would be made.
News of the reported detentions came amid growing sentiment in Albania to punish key communist figures considered responsible for instituting and maintaining Europe's most repressive dictatorship for more than four decades.
President Ramiz Alia, successor to dictator Enver Hoxha in 1985, ushered in reform in December, permitting other political parties. But Alia, Hoxha's prime minister, refused to condemn his mentor.