US Help on Gerdec Investigation

TIRANA, April 7 – The United States has sent federal experts to Albania to help investigate a massive explosion at an ammunition dump last month that killed 24 people and injured about 300, according to the U.S. ambassador in Tirana, John L. Withers.
Six agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrived in Tirana on Sunday to assist Albanian police and prosecutors in the investigation, according to a statement released by the embassy.
After expressing his “full support for a complete, thorough, and impartial investigation of the G쳤ec explosion,” Withers said, “It should lead wherever the evidence takes it, no matter where that evidence leads or who is involved. Only this will restore public trust in Albania’s institutions of justice.”
He also hoped the work would encounter “no political interference,” adding that “whatever sentences might be handed down by Albanian courts would be commensurate with the crimes, regardless of the political status or connections of the criminals.”
The U.S. is providing assistance for the G쳤ec tragedy in a number of other ways. They include humanitarian aid from USAID and military experts from the U.S. Military’s European Command (EUCOM).
EUCOM has sent a team of experts in explosive ordnance, hazardous materials, environmental analysis and forensic science. The team is examining the site of the G쳤ec tragedy daily and offering their advice to Albanian authorities.
Withers said that U.S. authorities were “very concerned about the management of the site. Our experts have advised the government that there are safety issues that could lead to additional injuries, if changes are not made. Specifically, the area is still full of unexploded ammunition, much of it just below the surface, and most of the homes in the blast zone suffered serious structural damage. There are also unknown environmental risks that still must be analyzed,” he said.
“I therefore caution against local residents being permitted to move back into their homes prematurely. I sympathize with the residents, who are understandably anxious to resume their normal lives. However, returning too soon is inviting serious risks for people who have already suffered too much. We ask the Albanian authorities to counsel patience until a full site clean up has been completed and reconstruction of damaged homes is complete.”
“We continue to explore with the Government of Albania what additional assistance may be needed and will seek to provide this assistance as requested,” according to an embassy statement.
The defense minister resigned shortly after the incident, while three people, a Defense Ministry official and the owner and manager of the Albanian company that was carrying out the disposal, have been charged with negligence.
Army engineers are still clearing the crater of debris, and many local residents have not been allowed to return home for fear of unexploded ordnance in the area.
The Gerdec munitions dump explosion on 15 March has lifted the lid on a patchwork of relationships between the government and business, and on a profitable enterprise to supply the Afghan army with arms and explosives that are well past their sell-by date.
First described as a tragic accident, the blast occurred at an unlicensed factory for processing Albania’s vast weapons stockpile; it employs untrained women and children and has dubious safety standards. Questions have since been asked about who stood to benefit from the processing.
The mainstream opposition Socialist Party cites the blast proof that the state has, in effect, been “captured” by quasi-criminal elements or, at the very least, as evidence of negligence by Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who denies he even knew of the factory.