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kukes - April-1999
Albania is the poorest country in Europe. It was one of the last to emerge from communism and in only two years made the difficult and rapid transistion into a multiparty democracy.
In January, 1997, a pyramid scheme collapsed and thousands lost their life savings. Riots broke out. The military was helpless as army supply camps were looted. Gangs took over entire cities and turf wars over drugs and weapons escalated beyond control.