Senior U.S. official brings opposing MPs to the table

Yazdgerdi visits Tirana, meets with top political leaders.
TIRANA, Dec. 16 – A visiting U.S. senior official, Thomas Yazdgerdi, has brought a small group of MPs from Albania’s opposing political groupings to the same table for a nonofficial dinner, in what was seen as an effort to get the Democrats to end their prolonged boycott of parliament.
Yazdgerdi, who head’s the U.S. State Department office for the wider region, also met several of the country’s top political leaders, including President Bujar Ninishani and opposition leader Lulzim Basha.
However, it was the dinner he had with parliamentarians from both the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party that cought the attention of local media most.
No public information was made available on the discussions. PMs present at the dinner told the media it dealt with political developments, but there was no talk of any agreement.
EU representatives are due to arrive in Tirana this week to try to get the two sides to reach a deal that would bring the Democrats in parliament. They have been boycotting it for months, citing several reasons, including the beating of one of their MPs by two Socialist MPs, who now face criminal charges.