Albania looks for Kosovo reassurance from Bush

TIRANA, June 10 (Reuters) President George W Bush arrived in Albania today, the first visit by a US leader to the Balkan state which has prepared the kind of welcome he could only dream of in many countries.

On the penultimate stop in his eight-day European tour there will be none of the protests that greeted his visits to Germany and Italy. The capital Tirana was festooned with US flags, welcome banners and huge posters of a smiling Bush.

During the seven-hour visit, he will get a medal, a street named after him and his picture on commemorative stamps.

He was expected to reassure Prime Minister Sali Berisha that Washington's support for the independence of ethnic Albanians in the neighbouring Serbian province of Kosovo is undiminished despite Russia's strong opposition.

''The US holds the key to the balance of power in the world, and for a small country like us, this is marvellous,'' said Tirana resident Lufti Zeneli. ''They helped us in the liberation of Kosovo. America is fantastic.'' Albanians have been enthusiastic about the West since the collapse of the isolationist Stalinist regime in 1990.

Their good relations with the United States were cemented in 1999, when then president Bill Clinton pushed for intervention in Kosovo, Serbia's breakaway province with an ethnic Albanian majority.

NATO expelled Serb troops accused of killing civilians in a war with separatists, and the United Nations took over.

The United States is the strongest backer of a UN plan to make Kosovo independent this year, a move opposed by Russia, a Serbian ally.

ACT NOW ON KOSOVO During his visit to Italy yesterday, Bush said the United Nations Security Council must act on the plan now.

Albanians hope for even stronger words, and there has been strong speculation, repeatedly denied, that he may fly over to the province to reassure Kosovo's 90-per cent Albanian majority of US support for their independence.

Albania sees Bush's visit as reward for its support over Afghanistan and Iraq, where Albania has a small contingent of troops, and for giving refuge to some former Guantanamo detainees who cannot return to their home countries.

Albanians think the visit could affect US policy on Kosovo, and want to make sure Bush has no doubt about their loyalty.

Parliament authorised the entry of more than 500 US Marines into Albania, and no Albanian forces will be allowed to carry guns near the president.

Manholes along Tirana's main road, where he will pass, have been welded shut, and media reported that Arab nationals were under surveillance by the secret service.

A Stalinist-era hall was being remodelled for the visit, with bathrooms re-fitted with luxury furnishings.

In a village he is due to visit, high profile locals -- the barber and the baker -- were competing on who will give him the best present, which could see Bush go home with a lute, the helmet of Albania's national hero Skanderbeg and silverware.

One in three of Albania's 3.3 million people said they wanted to see him, leading police to issue a public appeal for citizens not to come out on balconies, windows or terraces so as not to alarm US snipers.

REUTERS SG RN1419