"Free Albania" National Committee (), also known as "Free Albania" National-Democratic Committee, also National Committee for a Free Albania or NCFA, was a political organization of post-World War II Albanian emigres based in the Western countries. It was supported by the CIA as part of the Albanian Subversion and was a member of the National Committee for a Free Europe. The committee's aim was organizing the Albanian diaspora and cooperating with western powers in overthrowing Enver Hoxha's Communist regime in Albania.The committee's creation was initiated in Rome and was completed in Paris in the summer of 1949.
Background With the triumph of communism in Albania after the end of World War II, many of the political actors in Albania during World War II had to flee the country. Many of them collaborated with western governments and their secret services in seeking to overthrow the communists, and thus changing the form of the regime in Albania. The members of the committee were heterogeneous. Most were former Balli Kombëtar (Albanian National Front) members including Mithat Frashëri, Abas Ermenji, Vasil Andoni, Hafëz Jusuf Azemi and Ali Klissura. There were also Legaliteti members including their leader Abaz Kupi, the "Blloku Independent" (Independent Block) of pro-Italian and/or collaborationist elements who had been involved with Albanian puppet governments during the war, (e.g. Ernest Koliqi, Mustafa Kruja, Gjon Marka Gjoni, Shefqet Verlaci) anti-fascist and anti-communist guerrillas (led by Said Bey Kryeziu) who cooperated with British-American emissaries during the war, other independent anti-communists, e.g. Muharrem Bajraktari, as well as other political factions including the "Peasant League" ().
Though early organization is often attributed to Ihsan Toptani, both Abaz Kupi and Said Kryeziu later confirmed to US intelligence that it was actually Kryeziu who successfully brought the committee components together. Both leaders operated under the impression that the committee's activities were primarily a "British show," believing that the United States had given Great Britain a free hand to direct operations in Albania.
Internal friction plagued the committee from it's inception. To maintain cohesion, Abaz Kupi and Midhat Frasheri signed a strict written agreement promising that they would not engage in partisan politics as long as they remained active members of the committee. Despite this public facade of unity, the factions remained highly distrustful of each other. Furthermore, prominent figures like Hasan Dosti openly challenged Frasheri's leadership, creating a division within Balli Kombëtar. This split placed Frasheri, Abas Ermeni, Vasil Andoni, Halil Maçi and Zef Pali on one side, and Hassan Dosti, Ali Klissura, Nureddin Vlora, Halil Kinika, Dr. Vasil, and Faik Quku on the other. While Midhat Frasheri desired to have Ndue Marka Gjoni serve on the committee, his father, Prince Marka Gjoni, flatly refused. Prince Marka Gjoni and Shefqet Verlaci insisted that the Blloku Independent should only be represented collectively as an official party rather than allowing its members to join in an individual, unaffiliated capacity. There was intense factional infighting and propaganda wars surrounding the committee's leadership. The committee aligned publication L'Albanie Libre criticized the Agrarian Democratic Party (Lidhja Agrare), arguing that its public recriminations against fellow exile groups was a propaganda tool for the communist regime. Furthermore, the political vulnerabilities of Chairman Hasan Dosti were heavily weaponized during these disputes, rival factions frequently attacked Dosti over his wartime record, specifically his 1942 role as Minister of Justice under the Italian Fascist occupation and his membership in Mustafa Kruja's cabinet.
American officials promised committee leaders an Albanian-language broadcast on a private network (likely NBC) and a weekly Albanian publication. Midhat Frasheri intended to bring Vasil Andoni and Halil Maçi to the United States specifically to run these operations and participate in Voice of America broadcasts. Additionally, Abaz Kupi initially resisted traveling to the United States because he did not speak English, but he was ultimately persuaded to join the trip by Said Kryeziu.
Creation Preparations for the Committee started in Rome in 1948, at the initiative of Legaliteti. After the rejection of Balli Kombëtar (due to political antagonism against them in place since World War II), Balli's leader Mithat Frashëri took the initiative. However, strong confrontations took place between Balli members and "Blloku Independent" members who decided to stay out of the committee. The US State Department did not want any of the Blloku members involved in the committee due to their pro Italian/German stance during the war, but there was support for guerillas like Ismail Vërlaci of Gjon Markagjoni to join as unaffiliated individuals.
An office was opened in Paris on 1 July 1949. The "Free Albania" National Committee was officially constituted on 7 July (although some Albanian sources place it later in time, on 26 August 1949). Mithat Frashëri was its chairman, with other members of the Directing Board being: Nuçi Kotta (son of the Albanian former Prime Minister Kostaq Kotta), Abaz Kupi, Said Kryeziu, and Zef Pali. There was also a national committee consisting of Eqrem Telhai of the "Peasant League" (Albanian: Lidhja Katundare), Hysni Mulleti of the "Agrarian League" (Albanian: Lidhja Agrare), Muharrem Bajraktari from the "Independent Fighting Group" (Albanian: Grupi Luftëtar i Pavarur), Ihsan Toptani (independent), Gaqo Gogo, a pro-monarchist and former King Zog I's secretary, Myftar Spahiu and Gani Tafilaj from Legaliteti, with Halil Maçi, Vasil Andoni, and Abaz Ermenji from Balli Kombëtar. Gaqo Gogo served as Executive Secretary, while Abaz Kupi was appointed chairman of the military junta, with Ermenji and Kryeziu as his deputies.
When officially launched in Paris on 26 August, the committee announced its mission was "to guide and encourage our brave people in their resistance to cruel communist tyranny." However, the initiative was immediately denounced by a communiqué from the Royal Albanian Legation, which urged exile groups to rally around their sovereign instead. This public dispute triggered immediate internal squabbling between the royalist and republican committee factions over who legitimately represented the movement.
On 6 September 1949, the committee announced its creation in a BBC radio transmission. In the following days, Mithat Frashëri organized a press conference, which created a conflict with pro-Yugoslavian British authorities, who opposed Frashëri's words which included "Kosovo", stating that he should speak about only those territories that were part of the Albanian state.
Soon after, the British intelligence officer Billy McLean together with Alan Hare and Harold Perkins flew to Alexandria, Egypt where they joined Julian Amery and Robert Low. They had a meeting with King Zog trying to persuade him to recognize the committee. The former King of Albania, Ahmet Zogu, opposed the committee even though his supporter Abaz Kupi was one of the founders, arguing that he was the only legitimate representative of Albania.
The committee published the biweekly journal Shqiperia (Albania) in Albanian. By December 1955, the publication had a circulation of 5,000 copies per issue. It targeted Albanian émigrés and was distributed internationally across Italy, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Greece, Germany, Austria, Canada, Australia and the Near East.
Post 1949 The committee moved its base to New York City. After Frashëri's death on 3 October 1949, Hasan Dosti took over, but later Rexhep Krasniqi, a Kosovar Albanian, who had previously served as a member of parliament and minister of education in Albania, became chairman in 1956 with the support of Xhafer Deva who had settled in the USA. Krasniqi led the committee for over three decades until his retirement in 1992. Abas Ermenji continued to work in France, where he published the journal "Qëndresa Shqiptare" ().
In formal leadership elections held on 7 December 1955, Hasan Dosti was re-elected as Chairman, alongside Abaz Kupi as Vice-Chairman and Ekrem Telhaj as Secretary.
In August 1949, American journalist and analyst Reuben Markham strongly pressured Hassan Dosti to join the committee,an invitation Dosti originally refused out of fear for the safety of his seven sons remaining in Albania. Though Dosti temporarily relented when told the US government specifically desired his inclusion, Frasheri's inner circle (specifically Abaz Ermeni and Zef Pali) actively worked to keep Dosti off the committee due to his willingness to compromise with King Zog. This tension culminated in an explosive, face to face shouting match between Frasheri and Dosti in New York City over political control and Dosti's unsanctioned diplomatic contacts with Greek embassy officials.
While the main body of the committee shifted its focus to the US, a faction remained active in Europe. Following the war, Ermenji's name was placed second on the communist regime's list of wanted war criminals, despite the fact that he had actively fought against the German occupiers during the conflict. In 1954, he became president of, Abas Ermenji became president of the Free Albania Committee centered in Paris. This branch operated under the political strategy that the overthrow of communism would come from an internal uprising within Albania itself, rather than external military intervention. Their stated goal was to prepare the Albanian public for a domestic revolt while relying on free Western powers to neutralize neighboring countries from intervening.
The committee collaborated with the CIA in forming the Company 4000 military units, stationed in Hohenbrunn, Bavaria, West Germany in 1950. The "company" consisted of trained military units, supporting the Albanian Subversion, though it was never effective. By December 1955, conditions within the unit severely deteriorated due to internal friction caused by pro-Abaz Ermenji followers. Committee adherents in the company threatened a mass resignation unless the Commanding Officer, Caush Fasho, was removed. This forced Dosti and the executive committee in Rome to formally petition the US State Department and local military commands to intervene.
In mid 1949 the British military had already begun secret paramilitary training for 60 members of the Balli Kombetar on the island of Malta, with Gani Dilo selected to take early command and Abaz Ermeni traveling there to assume oversight. Simultaneously, the Italian government attempted to apply pressure on Albanian refugees in southern Italy to form a parallel "preparatory military organization," though this effort met with little initial success. In planning subversion operations, MI6 strategically favored Balli Kombëtar over Legaliteti. This preference was entirely practical as most Ballists originated from south west Albania, a region that was significantly more accessible by sea and via Greece compared to the Legaliteti strongholds located in the north.
With Albania joining the UN in 1955, the committee's activities diminished over the years, but it continued to organize political gatherings, conferences and seminars. Over 15,000 Albanian refugees were resettled in the United States through its efforts. Krasniqi published the newspaper "The Free Albanian" () monthly from November 1957 to 1970, and later sporadically. The committee was one of the nine national representative bodies which were used by US State Department to create the Assembly of Captive European Nations (ACEN). As part of its involvement with ACEN, the Committee appointed Maria Selma Zavalani to its permanent delegation in London. Mrs Zavalani was the widow of the former ACEN London Chairman, Tajar Zavalani.