The Albanian government said last night it had regained control of the capital Tirana from armed opposition groups after hours of fighting in which three people were killed. Opposition Democrats, however, have called a rally for today.
For much of yesterday order appeared to have collapsed, with armed gangs roaming the centre of Tirana in cars and even in tanks commandeered from the forces sent to confront them.
The country's five-party ruling coalition, after a meeting with President Rexhep Meidani late last night, announced that changes in the government were "necessary.".
"We have agreed on the need for changes in government within the governing coalition," Mr Neritan Ceka, head of the Socialist Party in the coalition, said. "Police have taken the law and order situation under control. The attempt at a coup d'etat today failed," the Interior Minister, Mr Perikli Teta, said on national television, after the television station had been recaptured. "I express my deep respect for the police forces of Tirana and Albania," he said.
The gunfire and explosions which had shaken the city since the funeral of a murdered opposition politician erupted into violence at noon ceased by late evening. Masked police units set up checkpoints in some parts of the city.
The turning point in the battle for control in the poor Balkan country appeared to be the recapture by police of the state television and radio station from armed men who seized it earlier in the day.
"Our special forces re-took control of the building. There was a small battle and those who occupied it fled," the Interior Ministry spokesman, Mr Artan Bizhga, said. Mr Bizhga said three people killed and 14 injured had been looters or rioters. "Our Eagle squad killed thieves who shot at them," he said.
The violence left a swath of destruction through the city centre, where many vehicles were set on fire and shops looted.
By late afternoon, the authorities had marshalled their forces for a counter-attack, staging a show of force in the form of convoys of police vehicles screaming along boulevards and then storming the TV building.
The violence was the worst in the troubled country since it plunged into anarchy 18 months ago after the collapse of fraudulent investment schemes.
In Rome, the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Romano Prodi, concerned about the increasing violence in Albania, advised defence ministry officials to prepare to evacuate Italian nationals from the Balkan state if necessary.
The latest violence followed the murder on Saturday of a leading opposition Democratic Party member, Mr Azem Hajdari, and a bodyguard in Tirana.
The opposition leader and former president, Mr Sali Berisha, blamed the murders on the Socialist Prime Minister, Mr Fatos Nano, and crowds attacked Mr Nano's office on Sunday, demanding his resignation.
At the start of Mr Hajdari's funeral yesterday mourners were trying to bring his coffin into the Prime Minister's building when guards opened fire. An intense gun battle ensued in which grenades were thrown.
The whereabouts of Mr Nano were still unclear on yesterday evening. Most members of his cabinet had appeared on television but he did not and there was speculation that President Meidani, who was holding talks with political leaders, might try to put together a new coalition excluding Mr Nano.
The Socialist Party secretary general, Mr Pandeli Majko, said the party did not favour Mr Nano's removal from office.
Mr Berisha's Democrats denied a report by private radio stations that he had been ordered to leave the country by 5 a.m. today or face arrest. Later the government appeared to be back-pedalling on an order to this effect.
Yesterday's violence produced widespread international alarm about a new threat to stability in a volatile region already shaken by the conflict in neighbouring Kosovo.
The United States earlier condemned political violence in Albania and said it would not recognise a government that took power by force. The State Department called on Albania's political leadership to work with Mr Meidani to forge "constructive proposals that will end the current upheaval".