875.01/11–644: Telegram
Mr. Alexander C. Kirk, Political Adviser, Allied Force Headquarters, to the Secretary of State
[Received November 7—3:45 a.m.]
1175. Lieutenant Colonel McLean,50 Senior BLO with Kupi, has arrived in Bari under SACMED’s orders and has strongly recommended to Eden51 that Kupi be evacuated to Italy on grounds that British prestige, particularly among pro-British elements in FNC, Would suffer should they abandon to his sworn enemies a man who has served the Allied cause since 1940 and with whom they have maintained a British mission for the last 14 months.52 Kupi’s sole alternative is to retire into the mountains where he might become a core of resistance to FNC thereby prolonging internal strife. Meanwhile British have evacuated Said Kryesiu who was also in danger and may have to save his brother Gani at some future date. According to McLean these men, unlike other Nationalist leaders, are relatively untainted by collaboration, are feared by FNC as potential rivals, and are therefore prime objectives for elimination. Their evacuation to Italy will in effect leave virtually all Albania to the FNC after the German withdrawal as Nationalist forces are rapidly disintegrating and leaders are more concerned over their own safety.