Albanian Prisoners' Merry Xmas Causes Row in UK

Pictures of Albanian prisoners having a very merry Christmas in an English prison have caused amusement and bemusement  - as well as annoyance to right-wingers in the UK who routinely complain that British prisons are too "luxurious" and too full of foreigners.

The series of shots, taken on a smuggled camera, shows young male Albanian prisoners at Guys Marsh prison in Shaftesbury, in Dorset county, in the west of England, tucking into a hearty dinner, smiling and waving with a caption wishing "all the Albanian people a Merry Xmas from prison in England".

They are also shown making eagle signs with their hands - a sign of pride in their Albanian ethnicity.

The pictures made the news pages in a number of English newspapers who either did not comment, or reacted with mild interest at the Albanians' "eagle wing" hand gestures.

Some right-wing papers reacted with outrage, however, noting the prisoners' jolly behaviour with annoyance.

The mass circulation Sun newspaper called it a "scandal", noting huffily that, since the release of the pictures, the mostlymuscular looking young men had also been bombarded with messages from young women seeking to become their girlfriends.

"We do not ask for fame, we did not ask for girlfriends, we didn't ask for anything. We just wanted to send our greetings," the Sun quoted one of the prisoners as responding to both the romantic requests - and the furore about their New Year cheer.