It is an agricultural society where the main cash crop is foreign journalists and the main export cameras and satellite phones, borrowed on a long-term basis from visitors to this fiercely independent fiefdom.

The area does in theory have an administration linked to the government in Tirana but it rarely puts in an appearance and is largely ignored by the clan chiefs and local Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commanders when it does.

``We've tried to improve the situation here, but we've had problems establishing public order. But there are no armed bands in Bajram Curri,'' said the optimistic Isa Koliqi, administrative head of the district, Tropoje.

So why do most outsiders who come here get robbed at gunpoint? ``Oh, that's just our way. It's a poor town after all,'' agrinning Koliqi said. Bajram Curri's real local dignitaries are to be found in the bar of the town's Best Hotel, knocking back shots of the alcoholically lethal `raki at sunrise, sunset and most hours in between.

Built like the snow-capped mountains that tower over the town, with voices deepened to a boom by chain-smoking hundred-a-day habits, they hold court before lesser mortals and keep an eye out for profitable new arrivals. ``We don't trust anyone. The government has infiltrated the secret services among us, the Serbs have done the same. But we are true Albanians and we will reject any thing imposed on us,'' said Halil, the head of a powerful local family.

For someone armed to the teeth with guns, grenades and knives, Halil has a surprisingly eloquent side to him when he holds forth on politics and religion.

``We are not Muslims, that was imposed on us by the Ottomans. We are not Orthodox Catholics, that was imposed on us by the Serbs. We are not Roman Catholics, that was imposed on us by Rome. Weare what we are and what we will remain, Albanians.'' In the run-down bars and billiard halls that line the town's main street, KLA soldiers in combat gear mix with the gun-toting locals. The ties between the two sides run deep KLA training camps started in this area.

But although the KLA are welcomed in this decaying town and allowed to go about their business with only the occasional token hold-up, few locals have rushed to join the ranks of the separatists.

A clear explanation for this is hard to find, but perhaps in the poorest area of the poorest country in Europe people have become accustomed to look after their own problems first without getting involved in other peoples'.

``It's total chaos, there is no government, no law. There are political assassinations every so often and of course the blood feuds,'' said Izet, previously the bodyguard of former President Sali Berisha.