Tirana - A member of Albania's ruling Socialist Party yesterday shot and seriously wounded a political rival, Mr Azem Hajdari, a former anti-communist student leader, inside the country's parliament building, witnesses said.
One witness said that the Socialist Party deputy Mr Gafur Mazreku had shot Mr Hajdari four times with a pistol just inside the assembly building. "Hajdari was bleeding but still alive when he was rushed to a military hospital," the witness added. The two had been involved in a fist fight in the chamber on Tuesday during a debate on raising VAT to 20 per cent from 12.5. The US State Department condemned the shooting.