The Albanian community in the USA is protesting in Dayton over the issue of Kosovo and is drawing the international community’s attention to the fact that there will be no peace in the Balkans without a resolution of the Kosovo issue. Bukoshi welcomed the peace talks in Dayton, but stressed that Albanians’ efforts to realize the Republic of Kosovo would not cease; Bukoshi called for it to be a partial solution to the complete resolution of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia. The Kosovo issue cannot be denied, and no one can say that a war in Kosovo would not involve the entire Balkans, Albania’s Deputy Foreign Minister Arian Starova declared yesterday at a conference in Athens. Hundreds of demonstrators in front of the White House in Washington protested yesterday against Serbian President Slobodan Millosheviç’s participation in the peace talks in Dayton. Rugova met Russian diplomats who, after learning about the grave situation in Kosovo, which they called abnormal, committed themselves to a peaceful resolution of the problems through dialogue. Berisha meets Soros and thanks him for the Soros Foundation’s assistance in general, and particularly for the Education project. An agreement on military assistance that Germany will provide to Albania was signed by Germany’s State Secretary for Defense and Albania’s Minister of Defense. Mati - 96 will be the first joint Albanian-German exercise, to be held in Albania next spring. The EBRD is optimistic about reforms in the East and, according to a report issued yesterday, Albania is expected to continue its economic growth in 1996 at 6%. Police have detained several suspicious individuals in Tirana, while investigations continue intensively into the kidnapping of the 12-year-old family, for whose release the bandits demanded large sums of money from the family. The two candidates for the post of NATO Secretary General, former Dutch Prime Minister Rud Lubers and former Danish chief diplomat Ufe Eleman Jenson, will meet Secretary of State Warren Kristofer in Washington today.

Their children were brutally killed in October ’90 on the Konispol - Kapshticë border line 14 families from Kolonja and Delvina, who have been in Tirana since yesterday to gather the necessary documentation at the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior concerning the killing of their 14 sons on the Konispol - Kapshticë border line in October ’90, will file a lawsuit, first against Ramiz Alia, the minister “Once we have gathered the necessary materials, we will address the Prosecutor’s Office,” said one of the heads of household. The list of defendants, according to some, numbers 12 people, but for reasons of safeguarding the investigation’s secrecy, it was not discl— The president Ramiz Alia with his lawyer K. Koci Continued on p. 2

Nevertheless, everything is shrouded in mystery Even after 6 months of investigations, the fate of the 100 million remains in the shadows The sensational robbery of 100 million from the Rrëshen Bank before the Tirana Military Court. The two judges, Gjyli begu, heard the account reconstructed once again

Calls are being made to establish a Constitutional Commission and use one of the 15 constitutions of EU countries as a basis The Constitution has reappeared in Parliament. This time, indeed, with greater consensus and concessions from the DP and its parliamentary group. As the parliamentary session was drawing to a close yesterday, the Speaker of Parliament, Pjetër Arbnori, proposed a formula for approving the commission to draft Albania’s new draft constitution. The first efforts to establish this commission were made in December 1994, but were unsuccessful. The DP parliamentary group agreed to hold up to 45% of the seats on this commission, even though in December 1994 it had insisted on being represented by 62%. The DP’s concessions go further. Arbnori said that the commission should include not only the major parties, but also all the smaller political parties represented in Parliament. Continued on p. 2 The Constitution will be approved in Albania only if no member of the parties currently in Parliament takes part in the commission that may be established. Namik Dokle will run for president again. The new development will be that, unlike previous times when he voted for Comrade Ramiz Alia, this time Namiku will vote for himself. This fact will be presented to Europe as evidence of renewal and distancing from the past. We do not need the World Bank’s money. The World Bank has given money to dictators too, so we have no use for their money. There is an error in the Social Democratic Party’s poll. The SDP does not rank second in the villages around Tirana, but first. This is because the SDP gave the peasant the land; likewise, it is the SDP that promises peasants it will return their ancestors’ land. The SDP, being on both sides, is with everyone and, mathematically, comes first from ...the bottom. The Commission for drafting the Constitution will be approved by a nationwide referendum, and polls indicate that it will not be approved this summer.

The sensational robbery of 100 million from the Rrëshen Bank before the Tirana Military Court. before the Tirana Military Court. The two judges, Gjyjbeg[u?], hear the entire incident that took place on 23 March 1995 at the Milot bridge reconstructed in detail once again from the indictment by Prosecutor Petrit Bici. The organizer of the entire robbery is considered to be former policeman Preng Gjoni, who that morning was also escorting the safe containing 100 million, placed in the trunk of the Mirdita Bank’s Mercedes. The car, which had set out from Burrel, was to take the money to Rrëshen. But Nikollë Gjini and Ndrec Gjini blocked its way with a Mercedes and, wearing masks and threatening them with automatic weapons, disarmed[?] the driver and policeman M. Koli, while also throwing the car keys into the ravine. According to the indictment, Preng Gjoni orchestrated this entire scene and pretended to be ill at the time of the robbery. Although the Bank’s director was also questioned about this incident, it has still not been discovered where the millions went. Even though 6 months of investigations have been carried out, the incident remains completely shrouded in mystery. The court hearing was unable to shed any light on this scenario. In any case, everything remains to be clarified during the judicial investigation. This mysterious theft is the 10th at banks in Albania; the other 9 have also remained enigmas. B. M.

In 70% of Albanian households, 2–3 generations live in one apartment P. 4