Experts dismiss the theory of a deadly assassination attempt Rama’s house was not shot at with bullets Metal balls only broke the window glass Page 3

EDITORIAL Power between a hair and a beam …This time, the hair became a beam and stopped at Edi Rama’s windows. Two spheres, most likely fired from slingshots, were transformed with dizzying speed into two sniper bullets. But the story, as told by the mayor under pressure from his associates and party comrades, was the only new-version fairy tale that entertained no Albanian child, except the children of the politi-… …bullets again. The insistence on presenting the spheres as bullets was continued, as part of their duty, by both the prosecutors—even though no expert assessment had reached their hands(!). Meanwhile, those in power accused their political opponents of deliberately shooting… with slingshots. However, the old and beautiful fairy tale became so disfigured … …toward every citizen, and all the more so toward the mayor. But to take two bullets that exist only in politicians’ heads and trumpet them in order to concoct a tense political situation is ridiculous. Indeed, for Albanians, the transformation of spheres into bullets is somewhat ominous, since for three years political debate has been born and hidden beneath the smell of gunpowder alone. The “new beam” conjured up from the “hairs” fallen onto Edi Rama’s windows looks like a soap opera concealing the truths of the debate about the real beam of poverty under which Albanians are trapped—a beam that those in power present as a hair. … sniper bullets. But as told by the mayor, accompanied by the chorus of his associates and fellow party members, the old tale in a new version entertained no Albanian child, except the old children of politics... ...”The two bullets” fired the previous night toward the windows of Tirana’s mayor turned, just a few hours later, into their concrete reality: two dice. But this happened only in physical truth, since politically they continued to be described as— because no explosives had reached their hands (!). shooting... with slingshots. However, the old, beautiful Albanian tale was so badly mangled that it seemed nothing more than an amateur fabrication, trying at all costs to retain some element that could serve as a pretext for punishing “the children from the other neighborhood”. ...An assault, even with stones, or even verbal abuse, is punishable when directed at

Pyramid schemes / The supervisory agency drops the bombshell: there is no money left The sale of the assets of the pyramid companies is still proceeding relatively slowly, even today, three years after the Socialists came to power. According to specialists, this has less to do with how the office and the oversight process have been organized than with the risks involved in buying the properties offered for sale, as well as the difficulties of selling them because of the extensive damage sustained during the 1997 unrest. So far, 70 catalogues have been published, covering around 327 assets, of which about 70 percent have been sold. 176 assets belonged to the former VEFA company. Although the exact figure is still unknown, it is estimated that around 9 million dollars have been collected from their sale.

The opposition completes its report on the elections The Albanian opposition parties are close to finalizing their joint action, which was conceived at the meeting convened by the Republican Party and Balli Kombëtar. Yesterday, the leaderships of almost all these parties made public that within a few days their Final Report on the violations and manipulation observed during the local elections of October 1 and their second round on October 15 would be ready. Page 2

Raises the alarm and gets the Police on their feet The mobile phone of Arben Malaj, chairman of the PS parliamentary group, was stolen. This time, the victims of the theft of expensive mobile phones have not been only ordinary people or businesspeople, but Albanian politicians as well. One of them was the Socialist Party MP himself, former Finance Minister and currently Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Economy, Finance and Privatization. Page 5

New facts / The family accuses Mithat Havari How the student from Vlora was murdered Private investigations begin; 60 testimonies in 22 months New facts / The family accuses Mithat Havari The KOZETA file How the student from Vlora was murdered Private investigations begin; 60 testimonies in 22 months Pages 12, 13

Carnage 13 victims in one day. Three dead Page 7

Protesters become agitated; Ministry windows are smashed Democratic Party rally, 1.2 million lekë Police detain another 100 people Page 5