By Christine Spolar
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, March 10, 1998; Page A13

TIRANA, Albania, March 9—Albama Bajrami has been following the deadly troubles in Kosovo for nearly two weeks and she's deeply worried. "Anything could happen," she said, including one of the most frightening scenarios the 45-year-old dietitian could conceive of: that the people of Albania might be asked to help their ethnic brethren across the border in Kosovo, where dozens of people have been killed over the past 10 days during a Serbian crackdown against Albanian separatists.

"We're too small and very poor, and I don't see how we can do anything," Bajrami said, standing on a bit of crumbling sidewalk in this capital. "Probably we could support them morally, but I don't see how we could do more."

For years, Kosovo has been called the potential tinderbox of the Balkans. Analysts warned that unchecked strife between Serbs and the ethnic Albanian majority in the southern province of Serbia could easily undo one of Europe's most unstable regions.

But following the worst bloodletting in Kosovo this decade, nerves rather than sabers appear to be rattling in Albania. No refugees are pouring into the country or into neighboring Macedonia, which has a sizable Albanian population. Although Albanians in both Albania and Macedonia took to the streets by the thousands to demonstrate emotional support, no one is offering much more to end the suffering.

One of the greatest fears here is that a Serbian crackdown in Kosovo -- where nine out of 10 people are ethnic Albanians -- will unleash a tide of refugees into this country, one of the poorest in Europe. "The best thing would be for the Kosovans to stay there and stay in their homes. If they leave, the Serbs will take over -- and that's what they've been fighting against for all these years," said Tasim Mece, a cafe manager. "Of course, we're very worried for them."

Fighting to maintain an equilibrium along its border with Kosovo, Albania last week appealed to Western governments for help. Defense analysts here called the border very porous with numerous mountain paths. The government has requested a meeting with the 16 NATO countries Wednesday in Brussels to discuss the crisis, officials said.

"We don't want to pour gasoline on that kind of fire. We want to pour water," said Sokol Gjoka, a spokesman for the foreign ministry.

The 500 or so ethnic Albanians from Kosovo who attend university here are muted in their expectations of the government. "We know the problems here and how poor this country is," said Jusuf Hoxha, a medical student who grew up near Pristina, Kosovo's capital. "I don't expect Tirana to support us strongly -- but the common people will."

Albania is still trying to recover from a devastating year of financial woe and political anarchy sparked in February 1997 when several get-rich-quick pyramid schemes collapsed, swallowing the life savings of much of the population.

The government is trying to shore up a military that abandoned its bases during the worst days of civil unrest last year, and to recover hundreds of thousands of weapons stolen from military warehouses. It also is seeking to address the rampant corruption that led to the crisis.