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| - One person was shot and killed and four injured in Albania on Wednesday, police said, in a firefight between supporters of rival political parties days before a national election. The vote is being closely watched by international observers and EU capitals, with Albania an official candidate for membership of the bloc. The EU and the US embassy in the capital Tirana said in separate statements that the incident must be quickly investigated and both called for calm. Local reports said the violence broke out on Wednesday afternoon in the city of Elbasan, some 35 kilometres (20 miles) south of the capital Tirana, between supporters of the ruling Socialists and the Democratic party. A Socialist supporter identified as a 56-year-old local doctor was killed in the violence and one other person injured, reported the Java News website. Two Democrat supporters were also among the wounded. The police said the fourth person wounded was a police officer who had intervened to try to calm the situation. "Investigations have been opened and the injured are in hospital," the police said, adding that several people had been arrested including a former police officer suspected of firing the fatal shot. The suspect was reported to be the bodyguard of a candidate from the Democrats. Head of the Socialist parliamentary group Taulant Balla accused the Democrats of sending "groups of paramilitaries, gunmen from other cities" to Elbasan to scare the population. The Democrats said the conflict was caused by claims that Socialist supporters were preparing to distribute money in return for votes. Neither claim could be independently verified. Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama called for calm and patience and vowed to punish those who were trying to disrupt the election. Albanian political life is marked by fiery rhetoric, with left- and right-wing parties exchanging insults and accusing each other of corruption. The run-up to Sunday's legislative election has been no different. Party leaders have been trading barbs for weeks, though there had been no major violent incidents reported during the current campaign. bme-jxb/jj
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