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The US is reassessing its leading role in international crises in negotiating peace and stability. President Clinton’s administration has won over the Albanian side’s negotiating team in Washington. US responsibility for the fate of peace in our region is rapidly taking shape. “If the conflicts continue, there would be serious consequences,” Clinton said during his speech on US foreign policy for the next two years of his presidential term. Clinton called on both sides to sign a peace agreement by March 15. The US, which is facing a series of dangerous challenges, does not want a new wave of ethnic cleansing to be repeated in the Balkans. The strategy of Milošević’s schizophrenic figure, who became the main cause of Yugoslavia’s destruction, does not align with US geopolitical interests. Their record on human rights, which the United States says it sought to improve in Bosnia, is now something it wants to enforce in Kosovo. The Serbian nationalist card played by Milošević can hardly appeal to the United States. The US, ever since the support it once gave Tito, believed that Yugoslavia could become a model for pacification. MC, page 3

Photograph of the Year The photo of the year ’99. The grief of an Albanian woman in Kosovo. The photograph taken by Dayna Smith of the “Washington Post” has been awarded World Press Photo ’99, the highest honor for a photojournalist.

Page 7

The scenario is familiar. She, with beauty that leaves you breathless, also makes statements that sound like those of a teenager troubled by an awkward body, counts her defects (?) precisely, displays an unexpected wisdom with phrases like “the phenomenon belongs to no one; nevertheless, it flows onward,” this in order to P. 19

Irma H. Kurti: Poetry cycle “You Don’t Love Me!”; “Five Canadian Poets” by Luan Canaj; “The Fire of Tears” by Ferit Rama; “Reçak ’99” by Ferik Ferra; poems by Pirro Tase and Qerim Skënderi, two short stories by Faslli Haliti and Meri Lalaj, etc.

The Mafia, 300 million dollars a day Page 2 The life of lawyer Kleanthi Koçi comes to an end Page 6 Lino and Meidani, a trip out to sea Page 7 Retreaded tires in Greece close 5 factories in Albania Page 16 Sports: Vlora halts Tirana, Vllaz-nia takes a point in Ballsh Page 21