KILLED IN ERROR

Taranaki Daily News, 19 August 1935, Page 7

KILLED IN ERROR

PLOT AGAINST KING ALBANIAN GENERAL DEAD SEQUEL TO JILTING GIRL REVOLT FOLLOWS RIOTS MARTIAL LAW DECLARED By Telegraph—Press Assn—Copyright. Belgrade, Aug. 17. Mistaken for King Zog, whose car he was occupying, General eon Gagliardi, former inspector of the Albanian Army, was assassinated together with the chauffeur near Fiert, in the neighbourhood of Vallona. The subsequent rioting developed into a revolt against the Government. The district was isolated and the rebels were initially successful under the leadership of Shevket Beg Verlazzi, who recently was released after serving a sentence for conspiracy. King Zog jilted Skevket s daughter when he came to the throne. Troops from Tirana reinofreed the gendarmerie and proclaimed martial law. They quelled the local outbreaks, but the rebels continued to control part of southern Albania, causing unrest in Tirana and Vallona. However, the revolt collapsed through lack of backing. The rebels are fleeing to Italy to escape a couri martial. Raiders crossed the Jugoslav frontier near Gusinje an killed Mustapha Balibek, the noted Albanian exile, and a frontier guard. Three of King Zog’s leading supporters have taken refuge in Greece. ' King Zog’s broken romance with the daughter of Verlazzi, a former Prime Minister, and the richest man in Albania, began in 1923, when she was 16 and he was 28. They wer lovers for three years, after which King Zog’s affection cooled.

Mademoiselle Verlazzi last year married M. Djemil Dino, former Minister for Albania at London, who lost his diplomatic post owing to a scandal in 1932, when his distress, a pretty Albanian girl, committed suicide. , . Verlazzi never forgave King Zog for jilting his daughter. Losses in the fierce skirmish number 50 rebels and 11 Government troops, th 6 latter including two colonels. It jS believed that seven British officers are connected with the Government gendarmerie involved, in the toting. A court-martial is expected to order numerous executions.