Lawyers disappear Ministry: It was a scam Page 5

EDITORIAL By Agim BAÇI Last night, the round ball drew many eyes to the screen. The biggest football event on the old continent quietly gathered people around the screen. And this time, those most riveted to it are various people who, for a long time, have filled the sidewalks. This round ball, which often does not act “according to logic,” can set entirely different logics in motion beyond the green field. This is especially true for people in a poor country, who while away their time unemployed and are one step away from those events that journalists portray as “grim.” It has performed this “duty” in many previous championships, when crime has become frequent in the back streets. We hope that the ball that set off on its journey last night, to finish on July 2, will leave us with the same legacy. Thus, instead of crime reports, newspapers can offer a match. Instead of a quarrel between husband and wife, they can offer the heated tone of a football debate. The curses can be directed at the field or the referee. We can curse because our team did not win. We can even suspect that a match may have been fixed, that is, sold. Let us say endless things about football with all our nerves. Let us say endless things... but only words. The round ball deserves our attention. Along with its mad dash, let it take the crime reports away from us too. Let us forget the endless political talk. Let us close one eye to what politicians call manipulation. Let us see the parties as saviors and shout together. Football deserves to take over our minds, keep us glued to it, and make us raise our voices. Let us follow the round ball’s magic to forget the other madnesses... Football offers us this privilege. But will we be able to enjoy this privilege, to be pleasantly distracted?

“EURO 2000” pages 21-22-23

He did not pay 50 million lekë The body of the 18-year-old, who was taken hostage on Thursday afternoon, has been found lifeless. “Give us 50 million, or we’ll kill you.” This was the threat made by the individuals Arm[?]lindo Bin...[?], 18, and Erion Hoxha, 20, to Gentian Buci, who was found murdered with a rifle and buried on a riverbank in the village of Zhulat in the district of Gjirokastër in the early hours of yesterday morning. The investigative team arrested the two murderers and found the murder weapon 300 meters from the scene. The arrest of the two murderers came as a result of a phone call made by relatives of the boy who had been taken hostage.

16 dead in 2000 Special Report Page 4

CEC without a solution and out of operation Page 2

Nine killed in one week Page 9

Measles appears in Tirana Page 20

Prices of legal visas rise Embassies in Tirana have now been changing the legal visa prices for a month. The latter have gone up, as if they wanted to challenge the black market, at a time when this paradox nevertheless continues to dominate the market, giving the black market not only the right to be the most widespread market, but, strangely, also the safest. It rarely happens that someone who obtains a visa through traffickers returns, or is turned away at the border... Page 5

Washington calls for anti-terror measures The chairman of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence accused Greece of having been quite negligent in eliminating the terrorist group that carried out the murder of the British Attaché. “For some time now I have been extremely concerned about the Greek Government’s failure to deal with this group,” said Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, referring to the terrorist group “17 November.” Page 3

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