The Albanian who terrifies Greece with 18 hostages
Yesterday, the unusual adventure of an Albanian emigrant. He hijacked the bus in Thessaloniki and headed to Korçë. He demanded 150 million drachmas in compensation
page 3 Let us also be pragmatic 23-year-old Flamur Andoni from Korçë, with an automatic rifle in his hand, traveling on the bus of Greek hostages From the very early hours of yesterday morning, when the first Greek bought the newspaper and saw on the front page the photo of an Albanian armed with a Kalashnikov, many of them reacted with shock. The Albanian had turned his own life as an illegal emigrant into a dangerous game. More than 12 hours of movement by bus toward the Greek-Albanian border, with twenty hostages and hundreds of police officers and military forces behind it. What was terrifying was that the situation could be resolved at any moment with bloodshed. The young Albanian, the 23-year-old from the village of Mëborje in Korçë, who had entered Greece through illegal migration, had worked for years in Thessaloniki. Two days earlier the Greek police had arrested him together with 17 other illegal Albanians and had given them 500 thousand lire to leave Greece. It was impossible for the poor Albanians to gather that amount! Then he came up with the idea of carrying out such a shocking act before the eyes of the Greek and international media. Flamur Andoni gripped the automatic rifle with a cartridge in the barrel and ordered the bus driver to set off and travel toward the Greek-Albanian border. His face had an abnormal look because of the severe emotional strain. Still no one understands how that terrible idea came to him on the bus. The police followed him throughout the route with snipers and large military forces. At first glance even Albanians in Greece were shocked, but part of the Greek public also regarded it as a sudden reaction linked to the misery of the Albanian emigrant. The issue is the safety, order, and lives of dozens of people on the bus. Every hour at midday Greek state television announced that the young Albanian was moving with the hostages toward Kakavijë. Strict orders were also given for the Albanian police to prepare. No one could imagine that the unpredictable adventure would enter a dramatic phase. Indeed, the drama was heading toward Albania. The Greek police had also sent a military helicopter from the air, which constantly stayed behind it. In vain. The Albanian continued his odyssey toward the Kapshticë border. More than 10 Greek police vehicles were chasing the bus. The numerous Greek forces had blocked all roads leading toward Albania. The point was to save the lives of the hostages. The Greek bus continued its journey toward Korçë. Greek newspapers wrote in large letters that the Albanian was entering Korçë with hostages. In fact, the drama was heading toward Albania. The Albanian could seek political asylum to save his life. The issue is life. In the evening senior officials of the Albanian police met with the Minister of Order, Petro Koçi, to coordinate action with the Greek police. It was stated that there was also a 6-month-old child on the bus. It seems the Albanian had become enraged for the second day in a row. Late in the evening he was also using the bus driver as a hostage. According to every version, he had two demands for the Greek government. 150 million drachmas in compensation and to be taken safely to his home in Mëborje, Korçë. In the late hours the situation worsened to the point of gunfire. Special forces from Tirana had also come to assist. Knowing that the case was drawing the attention of all Europe, the Greek authorities delayed the operation to neutralize the Albanian with the automatic rifle as much as possible. What would happen after 11 p.m., no one could imagine. Later the news became confused and the first version had to be verified, namely that the Albanian had been killed, leaving hostages dead and injured as well. The latter was a tragedy, also compromising, through silence, the humanism of the Greek forces.