Armed Men Block Premier’s Convoy

Heavily armed men barred Premier Bashkim Fino from visiting a town north of the capital in a new spasm of lawlessness as Albania waited impatiently for the arrival of an Italian-led security force. About 15 gunmen blocked Fino and other Cabinet ministers at Bushat, 60 miles north of Tirana, the capital, as they traveled toward the town of Shkoder. The gunmen detonated two grenades on the roadside and forced the convoy to turn back. An official traveling with Fino said the gunmen claimed that 120 people from Shkoder were being held in the southern port of Sarande and demanded their release. The official denied the claims but said the government would check.