U.S. says corruption hampering Albania ability to fight terrorism

TIRANA, May 4 – The 2013 U.S. State Department report on terrorism, issued last week, says corruption is hampering Albania’s ability to participate in the international efforts against terrorism, despite the fact that the country has total political will to support such efforts.
It said that despite the coordination of the work with other regional countries Tirana has “lacked the capacity to implement effective controls.”
“Corruption coupled with a poorly functioning judicial system continued to hinder Albanian efforts in law enforcement,” the report said.
The judicial system continues to remain Albania’s Achilles’ heel during its almost two-and-a-half decades of democracy. Albanians also have little trust in the judicial system, several polls show.
The State Department report said that Tirana does not have the capacity to collect biometric data other than that contained on biometric identity cards presented at border crossing points.
Fingerprint data from illegal migrants is collected, but not all border control points are equipped with live scanners, resulting in a delay in fingerprints being included in electronic databases or identification of individuals based on fingerprint data.
In the last two months, Albanian authorities have crackdown with arrest of eight men who recruited others to fight in the civil war in Syria, joining the rebels’ side. Authorities are also investigating the financial sources they used, including the money spent for building two mosques in the capital area considered as their center of recruitment.
Though there are no official figures, there have been reports that up to 120 Albanians have gone to Syria to fight alongside the rebels. Unofficial figures also speak of six dead among them.