President Sali Berisha and opposition leaders agreed Thursday on a 48-hour cease-fire to calm southern Albania's armed revolt, suspending military operations and urging protesters to hand in stolen weapons.
Opposition leader Neritan Ceka said the agreement - worked out during talks initiated by Berisha - was "a first step" toward a political compromise.Sharp north-south divisions emerged in the last two months in this impoverished Balkan nation after most Albanians lost money in shady investment schemes. Weeks on unrest erupted into violence and led Berisha to impose a state of emergency on Sunday.
The 48-hour cease-fire is scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. Friday (10 p.m. EST Thursday).
Thursday's agreement called for Berisha to grant amnesty to anyone who turns in arms during the 48-hour period and to start talks on appointing a new prime minister.
The government of Aleksandar Meksi resigned last week in a bid to quell the protests over the failed pyramid schemes.
The agreement said a commission of experts including members of all political parties would be formed to probe the pyramid schemes.
Earlier Thursday, anti-government protesters blasted a 13-foot-wide crater Thursday in a small stone bridge spanning a ravine near the Greek border.
Foreign Minister Tritan Shehu acknowledged that the southern cities of Vlora, Saranda and Delvina were "out of control." But he said the government was intent on containing the growing rebellion - stemming from the collapse of little-regulated pyramid schemes - without violence.
Still, the deployment of jets, tanks and armored personnel carriers showed Berisha's determination to end the insurrection quickly.
Thursday's talks marked the first time Berisha has met with all opposition leaders, rather than only the small parties in Parliament, which his party dominates overwhelmingly. Berisha earlier blamed the opposition's stubbornness in negotiations for the unrest.
Chanting "Saranda, Saranda," more than 5,000 people filled city streets overnight, alarmed by rumors that the army was going to invade the southern port.
Protesters took to the Adriatic Sea in seven torpedo boats seized from a naval base and fired in the air while they searched for the rumored landing craft, Greece's Skai television network said. However, the government appeared to have made no effort to land.
On Wednesday, military jets bombed a southern town and anti-government militants commandeered tanks and fired anti-aircraft guns. A firefight between both sides near Vlora sent shepherds on neighboring hills diving for cover.
Seven people were shot and killed in Vlora on Wednesday and 14 people were treated for injuries, hospital workers said.
Despite the violence, U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen said there was no need yet to evacuate the 1,600 Americans in Albania.