Adriatik Llalla

Concerns have been raised that Albania did not immediately ask Interpol to issue an international 'red notice' for the arrest of former General Prosecutor Adriatik Llalla immediately after he disappeared following the court verdict confirming his two-year prison sentence for illegally concealing assets.

"With this designation, I am reaffirming the need for accountability and transparency in Albania's democratic institutions, government processes, and the actions of Albanian public officials," Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in the press release.

Adriatik Llalla, 52, a former General Prosecutor of Albania, was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison and his assets confiscated after being found guilty of not declaring his wealth and other irregularities on asset declarations. He becomes one of the highest officials in the country to be found guilty of such charges.

Former Albanian prime minister Sali Berisha. Photo: LSA

Berisha is the fourth Albanian to be added to the list of people unwelcome in the US after former General Prosecutor Adriatik Llalla, former Socialist Party mayor Vangjush Dako and the current Social Democratic Party head, Tom Doshi.

The US embassy in Tirana said on Tuesday that it is working on a blacklist of current and former officials in Albania who it considers corrupt and to be working against the interests of the United States.

The State Department announced on Monday that businessman and politician Tom Doshi, one of the wealthiest MPs in the Albanian parliament, has been barred from entering the US, along with his immediate family.

The State Department alleged in a statement that Doshi's ban was "due to his involvement in significant corruption".

The US State Department on Wednesday announced that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had "designated" Adriatik Llalla, 49, and his family as corrupt foreign officials, thereby banning Llalla from entering the country.

The Albanian parliament was blanketed in pink smoke on Monday as the ruling majority voted for the appointment of the new temporary prosecutor general, after opposition MPs set off smoke bombs in an attempt to stop the move, claiming it was unconstitutional.

Albanian opposition leader Lulzim Basha, from the centre-right Democratic Party (PD) gave an interview to controversial American media outlet Breitbart during a visit to the United States to raise awareness about the political situation in the country.

According to Albania's prosecutor-general, Adriatik Llalla, U.S. Ambassador in Tirana Donald Lu is guilty of "undiplomatic attacks and blackmail."

The ambassador previously accused him of hampering the judicial reform that is essential before talks can start on EU membership, the AP reported on Thursday.