ALBANIA READY FOR ANY SCENARIO WHICH COULD DEVELOP FROM KOSOVO CRISIS

ZAGREB, April 9 (Hina) - The Albanian Government is ready for any possible scenario which could develop from the Kosovo crisis and it will provide all the help it can for Kosovo refugees, whose exodus has taken on disastrous dimensions, Albania's Ambassador to Zagreb Miriam Bisha said on Friday. "It seems that the price of peace in the Balkans is war", Bisha said adding Albania was, nevertheless, ready to overcome the crisis in cooperation with its strategic allies, "taking into account the 'adventures' Belgrade could undertake against Albania's sovereignty". Tirana supports NATO's air strikes, to which the international community had to resort after a series of difficult and fruitless attempts to solve the crisis peacefully, and it welcomes the armed defence of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Bisha said. Albania has considered requests for the deployment of NATO troops on its territory and its parliament has adopted a bill on accepting NATO forces which should support military operations in the region. Although the crisis has taken on disastrous dimensions, Albania is ready to endure the pressure, Bisha said adding her country supported refugees' stay in the region. The refugees do not want to leave, Bisha said. She added that their resettlement would only "help the policy of ethnic cleansing" of President Slobodan Milosevic. There are about 290,000 Kosovo refuges in Albania currently, and the situation is extremely difficult because international help is insufficient, arrives too late and is often inadequate, Bisha said adding Italy had granted most aid so far. Croatia has sent US$2.43 million worth of humanitarian help, as well as other forms of aid through Caritas, the Red Cross and the Albanian community in Croatia. (hina) jn rml