EDITORIAL By Alban SHKODRA The Minister of Public Order, Spartak Poci, poured a large bucket of petrol onto the fire when he declared that he had arrested one of the thieves and found some of the Këraba gold, which, according to him, had been stolen in March 1997. The skeptical Albanian public watched the minister’s televised spectacle with indifference; he seemed ready to wave the victory fanfares joyfully. In fact, just 12 hours later, other reliable sources disproved the timing of the theft with evidence, putting Poci in a difficult position. It has now become definitively clear that the treasury scandal was instigated, sustained and used by the Socialist Party as a weapon to attack the opposition on the eve of the elections. But the only effect of this scandal was to turn this episode into a “boomerang” for Nano’s party. The scenario prepared as early as January this year aimed to pin the gold theft on the opposition by inflating it into a political scandal of such proportions that it would ensure the Socialists a complete victory in the upcoming local elections. But the accusations that the Government was responsible for safeguarding, controlling and securing the treasury, under the rules in force, forced the majority to downplay the scandal as an ordinary theft by guards. The public’s ever louder distrust of the current majority’s governing abilities, as well as mounting suspicions about the state’s actions, are forcing those in power to take drastic measures. Big-name officials will fall one after another in order to distance KUPOLEAN from the scandal and present it as “uninvolved”. But no scapegoat, however credible, can save the Socialists from exposing themselves.

Those arrested... Page 3 Photo: Armand Babani

LATEST NEWS: THE GOLD Late last night, dozens of police officers were on full alert, awaiting the execution of arrest warrants signed by the Albanian Prosecutor’s Office for four senior officials. Sources at the “Republika” newspaper explained that “an order had been issued for all police chiefs to be present in their offices until midnight”. By 24:00, the arrests had not been carried out, while sources from the Tirana Police said they were ready to act, since the arrest warrants had been signed.

The financial scale of the scandal grows The minister’s order to block the tender for drawing up the Master Plan resulted in Albania appearing in Skopje without a Master Plan and in the blocking of the World Bank’s 23-million-dollar investment in the Port of Durrës. Page 2

MAFIA Page 7

Search launched, criminal proceedings begin An Italian businessman who had been working in Albania for 15 months has disappeared without a trace. Franko Pici was a co-owner of the oil-and-soap factory in Elbasan. Pici has completely cut off contact with the factory, and there is no address or information about his whereabouts. Sources in the company’s administration said that criminal proceedings against the Italian had been sought as early as 1997. Page 9

The majority decides not to change the CEC At this afternoon’s session, in a lightning-fast move, Parliament approved the remaining 13 articles of the draft Electoral Code, taking none of the opposition’s comments into account on some of the most essential articles. Page 4

The official version of the theft falls apart Tunnel cameras disappear PAGE 3