The KLA launches an offensive in Reka e Keqe; 40 Serbs killed in Koshare. Serbs are killing Albanians. Fighting at Qafë Prush P. 2, 16

Mysterious visit by an American congressman to Belgrade, confusion in Washington. Yeltsin says “no” to cutting ties with the West P. 5

At last, the “Apaches” have landed

Milošević has taken 2 million people in Kosovo hostage. International crisis experts believe NATO should take Kosovo by force. To this end, it should immediately begin deploying troops, enforce the embargo against Serbia and freeze Milošević’s personal assets. According to a report by the U.S. Department of State, the fate of around 500,000 Kosovars is unknown, while another 800,000 are waiting to leave. This crisis can be brought under control if the West asserts its command over its own destiny. But there are still disagreements within NATO over the option of a ground intervention. International cooperation continues to be constrained by disputes, suspicions and selfishness. Many of the world’s leading powers were tempted by ambitions to exempt themselves from the consensus needed to bring a definitive solution to the crisis in the former Yugoslavia. In other words, Italian diplomacy too displays its selfishness and shows that it suffers from a localist spirit. Commenting on American military power, chief diplomat Dini says that the United States cannot be the “world’s policeman” and that “Italy will not ignore” the voice of [partly illegible]. Continued, p. 3

By Pierre GLACHANT At a time when the Atlantic Alliance is preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary in Washington, its credibility is still at stake in Kosovo—and even NATO’s future itself, according to U.S. experts. “If NATO proves incapable of dealing with a cardboard dictator in the heart of Europe, then what is it left to do?” Ivo Daalder of the “Brookings” Institution, a think tank in Washington, recently asked. Numerous politicians and experts in the United States believe that NATO, the military alliance victorious over the Soviet bloc, cannot afford to “lose its first war in 50 years” against tiny Serbia. “Kosovo is a decisive moment for NATO,” according to Daalder. If the alliance fails to break Yugoslav pressure, Slobodan Milošević, he argues, this would seriously undermine its ability to act “against international threats such as the spread of nuclear weapons, international terrorism or the interruption [of text]”. Page 4

• Civilians in the market to catch thieves • The budget loses 2 billion Page 9 • 1 billion 757 million lekë contributed for Kosovars at the Savings Bank Page 8 • The German camp is being set up on poisoned land Page 7

From “Republika”’s correspondent in Kukës: Doctors “abandon” the sick and go to associations Page 2

• Socialists demand Ceka’s head Page 10 • Coffee smugglers hiding behind parliamentary immunity Page 11 • Ilir Shaqiri, Kosovo’s well-known singer, is looking for his mother, Anife, and his father, Hazir Shaqiri; he himself is in Kosovo Pages 7, 15