Shkodrans demand a state, order and property P. 3

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Paramilitaries who have committed crimes roam freely in Prishtina P. 5

Now AFOR, too, lifts the veil of its “silent” stance and points to the greatest Albanian wound—the all-pervasive presence of crime. AFOR chose yesterday to speak openly, challenging the Albanian Government’s efforts to portray crime as spontaneous and manageable. Yesterday AFOR’s spokesperson chose not to waste time but to point to the wound, also accusing segments of Albanian politics of being involved in the excessively high level of crime. The absence of law and order in Albania, highlighted by the opposition and acknowledged by the government as well, has long been the main obstacle to the stabilization of the Albanians. But now, with the Balkans at the center of investment, Albania risks losing investment opportunities solely as a result of the spread of this crime, since no one hides the fact that political and government circles are behind it. Indeed, even AFOR, which throughout has limited itself to military actions and a military stance, has openly pressed the Albanian Government to launch a swift frontal attack on organized crime, thereby implying that even the world’s strongest military alliance, NATO, will find it difficult to remain in Albania amid such a wave of crime. If such a frontal, uncompromising attack is not undertaken… Let me!, page 3

Kosovo: UÇK buries those killed by the page KFOR troops attend the burial of “rebel” Albanians The mother of one of the victims: “I was afraid the Serbs would kill him. Apparently, it was written that he would be killed by the peacekeeping soldiers...” P. 8 P. 4

Xhani Anjeli: I am innocent. I had no part in the charges brought against Ferrari. I will hold everyone who failed to check the steering wheel responsible That mattered little; he had escaped death. He would not leave behind sobs like his former friend Sena, for whom P. 12

By Agim Zeka On the same day, 10 July 1999, two events took place. The first, at the National History Museum, was organized by the Balli Kombëtar Party in cooperation with the “Lumo Skëndo” Association (the pseudonym of the uncle Mit’hat Frashëri). Through a modest but sincere and even moving event, they commemorated the 55th anniversary of the fall of the first Albanian martyr in Kosovo, the 19-year-old nationalist Hamid Troplini. In the final moments of his very young life, before closing his eyes forever, this nationalist young man told his companions: “Tell mother to mourn me; long live ethnic Albania.” The second event on the same day took place, as is usual on such occasions, at the Central House of Servicemen in Tirana and was dedicated, according to the communist organizers and fanatics, to 10 July, the founding day of the “National Liberation Army.” Another distinction between the two events: The first was attended by nationalists, contemporaries of the fallen Hamit Troplini, including people from Kosovo, historians, young intellectuals, the family of the nationalist martyr, and leaders of Balli Kombëtar and the “Lumo Skëndo” Association, which are successfully publishing the illustrious works of the erudite intellectual and nationalist Mit’hat Frashëri; while the second was attended, besides yellowed communist fanatics and nostalgics, by the two representatives of the “new blood.” P. 3

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Inside: Political mafia under Italian-Albanian investigation Investigators: “The first line of inquiry will be verification of the assets of all state employees,” while no names have been made public TIRANA: The political mafia will be investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office. The sensational statement made to the press by Agim Tirana, Director of the Investigative Directorate at the General Prosecutor’s Office, that “the political mafia has spread everywhere,” has now become the subject of investigations expected to begin shortly, initiated by the General Prosecutor’s Office itself. “In this P. 6

• Visar Zhiti’s party is Literature Open letter to Ambassador Çuçi in Rome P. 3

13 years in prison for 7 defendants, 5 former officers and two goods transporters TIRANA: The cigarette-smuggling bosses continue to move their trucks with impunity, while customs police serve sentences for the favors others do for these people. Yesterday, the Tirana District Court sentenced five former Goricë customs police officers to one and a half years in prison each, and other defendants to three years each, who were tried in P. 6