Opposition demonstration calling for govt to resign

(21 Feb 2004) 1. Former Democratic Party President Sali Berisha on stage 2. Various of people shouting, whistling, holding flags, hands in air 3. Berisha on stage 4. Crowd 5. Berisha speaking from stage 6. Crowd 7. Various of protesters marching carrying yellow banner 8. Protesters marching 9. Protester carrying dummy looking like Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano 10. Various of protesters marching, chanting "Nano, go" 11. Various of police guarding government headquarters and Nano''''s office 12. Protesters chanting "Nano, go" 13. Police outside government headquarters 14. Protesters 15. Various of protesters and Berisha 16. SOUNDBITE (English) Sali Berisha, Former Democratic Party President: "And I''''m very proud. You see the nation standing up and it will be a spring of hope. This people has decided in the most peaceful way to settle their major problem, first to vote as a free nation." 17. Various of police 18. Various of protests STORYLINE: Thousands of protesters marched peacefully past heavily fortified government offices in Tirana on Saturday, calling on the prime minister to resign over alleged corruption and failure to improve living standards in one of Europe''''s poorest nations. The mood was tense as protesters disobeyed a police order to stay away from the government headquarters. That order was issued after protesters tried unsuccessfully to storm the building during the last mass anti-government rally on February 7. Police, however, did not attempt to disperse the crowd. Instead, they took the precaution of heavily secure the government headquarters. The building was protected by three rows of police officers standing shoulder-to-shoulder backed up by a fence and then a fourth row of police in riot gear. The march was organised by former President Sali Berisha''''s Democratic Party and nine other opposition groups who have joined forces in their drive to unseat Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano and his Socialist-led government. Berisha chanted, addressing the crowd: "Nano, go." Estimates by international observers put the number of protesters between 6-thousand and 20-thousand. There are fears that Albania again could plunge into the kind of anarchy that erupted in 1997, when the collapse of get-rich-quick investment schemes sent hundreds of thousands of angry citizens into the streets. Albania''''s long, stumbling transition toward democracy since throwing off communist rule in 1990 has been marked by political infighting that has sometimes turned violent, seriously hampering reforms needed to establish long-term stability and a market economy. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...