TIRANA, March 22 – Deputy Defense Minister Petrit Karabina has said that his ministry had linked contracts on the disposal of excess ammunition to two different U.S. companies.
However, he was trying to make the point that anyone making a link between the two contracts would misinform the public opinion.
Karabina said that, first, the Defense Ministry had contracted with Southern Ammunition Company Inc. for the disposal of bullets, a contract that was successfully completed in December, 2007.
The ministry had renewed the contract with the same company to dispose of artillery shells, which is now being investigated by the prosecutor office, he said.
Karabina stressed that, with Pentagon assistance, the Albanian Defense Ministry had signed a different contract with AEY Ltd. to sell ammunition to Afghanistan, which he called ‘legal.’ “That contract with AEY was for selling ammunition, rounds of bullets, to Afghanistan and approved by the U.S. Defense Department,” said Karabina.
Following the blast in Gerdec which killed at least 22 persons and injured more than 300, the country has been involved in a growing political debate.
The opposition has accused Prime Minister Sali Berisha, his former Defense Minister, Fatmir Mediu, and other officials of making illegal ammunition sales that have exploited the disposal process to hide the ammunition sold and transported through the nearby international airport.
