Today’s scandal began with a journalistic scoop The journalist who first uncovered the documents about the aid fraud speaks CARLO BOLLINO TIRANA — “A journalist’s duty is to uncover the truth, and that is why I investigated the aid scandal at length. I have become convinced that the main culprits in this whole fraud are Ramiz Alia and Ajdin Sejdia.” Dashnor Kokonozi, now Director of the Directorate for Culture at the Ministry of Culture, was the first Albanian journalist to investigate the aid scandal involving Italy. Indeed, it can be said that it was thanks to him that light was shed on the matter. It was the summer of 1991; the socialists were still in power, and yet this story was taking up space in “Sindikalisti,” the newspaper of the Independent Trade Unions, where Kokonozi was a journalist. “When the State Control Commission also began investigating the scandal,” the journalist recounts, having agreed for the first time to reveal details of his investigation, “they asked me for the documents I had.” Today, many of these documents form the backbone of the investigation carried out by the Investigative Directorate, which later concluded with the arrest of Fatos Nano, leader of the opposition. So you could say that the political and judicial storm of these days began with your scoop... “That may be an exaggeration. But there is no doubt that those articles caused a stir, particularly in Italy, where they were picked up by other news organizations. The investigations conducted by the Rome Prosecutor’s Office into the same Italian-Albanian scandal originated precisely from my reports published in “Sindikalisti.” Let’s go back to the beginning: how did you uncover the scandal? “Quite by chance. One day my daughter came back from kindergarten feeling sick and with a fever. I asked her teachers what she had eaten, and they told me it was a powdered milk product. ‘Good stuff,’ they told me, ‘it comes from Italy.’ But the quality was awful, and that made me suspicious. So I began investigating. I went to Durrës and spoke to the customs officers. I asked how much aid had been unloaded, and they explained that nobody could say, because nobody was checking. Then I went to Agro-Eksport, the state body responsible for oversight, and they showed me a letter from Sokrat Plaka—at the time Deputy Foreign Minister—which prohibited Agro-Eksport from dealing with Italian aid. So it was clear that there was something mysterious about this story.” Why do you say that Alia and Sejdia are the main people responsible? “Because my investigations clearly reveal the central role they played in this whole affair: a role that, it seems to me, has not been sufficiently highlighted today. Alia’s son, Arbën, worked with Ajdin Sejdia’s Iliria Holding. Alia certainly met Giuseppe Perniola, the entrepreneur from Levant.Co. who was sought out by the Nano Government to supply the aid. And Sejdia, acting on behalf of the Alia family—and certainly in his own interest too—established ties with the Italian socialists, who materially enabled the fraud.” What do you think Nano’s role was? “Nano supported all of Alia’s decisions and wishes. As President, Alia could not directly give orders to state bodies, and this was Nano’s first step toward becoming compromised. But Nano’s aim, more than to pocket money, was to create another channel of connections that might not have occurred to Alia: to establish good relations with the Italian socialists, who later really did promise him that they would bring his new party into the Socialist International—a good calling card for a party and a leader born from the ashes of the dictatorship.” During your investigation as a journalist, you were threatened many times. Is there anything that, until now, you have not had the courage to publish? “Yes, the story of the meetings between Fatos Nano and Giuseppe Perniola of Levant.Co.: a chapter that, it seems to me, has still not been explored. I understand that they met several times, the last on the occasion of the 40th Congress of the Italian Socialist Party in Bari. Nano and Perniola sat at the same table. Pajtim Ajazi, a member of the Alba-Coop staff who was in Bari at the time, told me about it, in connection with the story of the two aid billionaires. Today it would be interesting to find out what the two of them said during the whole dinner.” Why do you say that Alia and Sejdia are responsible ... domestic Foreign Minister — with which he stopped Agro-Eksport from receiving more mysterious about this story.” ... in the history of the meetings between two Italian journalists such as Fatos Nanos and Giuseppe ... Former President Ramiz Alia

The first time for an Albanian team First time for an Albanian team Partizani trains in Italy PINO MONTAGNA Thanks to its Italian sponsor, Abaco, the Partizani football team has been in Italy since July 28 to improve its preparation for the European Cup and the National Championship. The training camp is in Alviano, a tourist resort 20 kilometers from Terni (the Umbria region). The Albanian team consists of 20 players, one official, Bujar Labinoti, three coaches (Starova, Likaj and Fagu), one doctor, Straboberha, one masseuse, two drivers and the journalist Petraq Shtrepi of “Sporti dhe Lojrën”. The team has scheduled several friendly matches against regional teams: on August 11 against Orvietana and on August 14 against Perugia (third division); talks are under way to arrange more friendlies against Fiorentina, Ternana, La Spezia and Livorno. The Italian and Albanian officials appear quite optimistic about the new football season. It should be recalled that the first two matches of the European Cup preliminary qualifying round against Iceland’s IA Akranes will be played on August 22 in Tirana and on September 1 in Iceland. The national football season, meanwhile, will begin on Saturday, September 4, with a very important match between Tirana and Partizani. This is all the more significant because Tirana Club has also found an important sponsor (the well-known Italian company Ariston), and has strengthened its squad, signing, among others, Albania’s best-known talent, Ingrid Fortuzi, from Dinamo Club. ... the picturesque town is Alviano, a tourist resort 20 kilometres 20 players, one team official, Bujar Labinoti, three coaches (Starova, Lika and Këpçin?), one doctor, Stratorberdha, one masseuse, two drivers and two journalists, Petraq Shkrepi of “Sporti” and Lirim Zalla of Radiotelevizioni. Coach Sulejman Starova told our newspaper that the environmental and technical conditions are ideal; the training grounds are also very good; so far, training has been held twice a day. Compared with last year, Partizani has changed little: Ruhi and Sillo have arrived from Dinamo, and Çekici from Pogradeci; Ocelli (to Sweden) and Shehu (to Greece) have gone abroad. So far they have—

LEAFLETS DISTRIBUTED SECRETLY IN BERAT — In several homes in Berat, unidentified individuals secretly distributed overnight a leaflet entitled “Berati.” The leaflet was distributed entirely without the knowledge of members and supporters of the Democratic Party. Its contents were connected with recent events following the agreements made after Fatos Nano’s latest election. It called for his defense. According to official sources, the leaflet contains communist threats and insults directed at individuals and at the constitutional order. AGREEMENT TO HELP GJIROKASTËR HOSPITAL — Gjirokastër Hospital has signed a contract with the organization “Aid to the Catholic Churches in Europe” and the Churches of Eastern Europe, headquartered in Holland. Under this agreement, 160 beds, complete with all equipment, as well as other much-needed furniture, will soon be purchased for the hospital. The aid has been provided through contributions from members of the association and will reach Gjirokastër via the Greek Evangelical Church, headquartered in Corfu. FREE AID FROM GREECE FOR SARANDA — The Greek government has allocated a quantity of free humanitarian aid for Saranda. It has arrived in the city and consists of 18 tons of flour, 18 tons of sugar, several tons of rice, soap and salami, as well as 10,000 food portions for children. The local authorities have set up a commission that will deal solely with distributing this aid. The food is intended only for children and poor families in the city, as well as other families in difficult circumstances. ... a portion of the ... children ...

BODY OF AN ALBANIAN FOUND ON THE ROAD — The body of a 27-year-old Albanian was found on Sunday morning by a traffic police patrol near Torino di Sango, in Abruzzo, along the Adriatic highway, A-14. He was identified as Gemin Bura, born in 1966. It is not yet known where he lived in Italy. His body had deep wounds and bruises and was lying almost in the middle of the opposing lanes of the A-14 highway. The hypothesis considered most likely by the police and the Lanciano Prosecutor’s Office is that the body was dumped from a moving car. In other words, it was a murder. However, the possibility that he was run over while walking along the road has not been ruled out. PLANE COLLISION, FIVE DEAD — Two small planes collided in midair near Norfolk (in New York State, USA), and all five people aboard the two aircraft died. The incident occurred about three kilometers from Norfolk’s Karl Stefan Memorial Airport. A plane carrying four people collided with another that was landing, with only the pilot aboard. MAJOR FIRE ON MAJORCA — A very large wildfire that has been burning for several days near Palma de Mallorca has caused major damage to the Balearic island’s tourism industry. According to sources, the fire has also affected environmental protection services and equipment; the flames have been fanned by strong winds, making the firefighters’ task much more difficult. GERMANY, ESPIONAGE INVESTIGATIONS EXPANDED — With the opening of archives containing old documents from the former GDR’s secret police, espionage investigations in Germany are being expanded, a newspaper reports. An investigation into a Social Democratic MP is expected to begin, while investigations have been conducted into several accused people and a Liberal MP.

SHKODER / An interesting initiative by “Caritas” SHKODER — An original experience of cooperation between Italy and Albania is taking place these days in Shirokë, a village in a picturesque location on the shore of Lake Shkodër. From July 2 until August 1, 12 young Italians and an equal number of Albanians are living under the same roof and working together. They are between 16 and 22 years old. The initiative aims to bring young people together in a cultural integration project based on physical activities and the spread of the Gospel. Specifically, the school in Shirokë is being restored. It was once confiscated from the Stigmatine nuns by the communist regime. The camp is led by Don Bruno Mondino, the project’s creator, and is supported by two families from Cuneo, the city from which the young people have come. In 1992, Mondino led another camp in Dajç, a village 25 kilometers from Shkodër. In addition to spreading the Catholic faith, Italian language lessons are also being offered. The young people are staying in the school courtyard, in a prefabricated wooden house that came from Italy through Caritas. The Stigmatines—a religious order of nuns founded in Tuscany—have returned to Shkodër under the leadership of Sister Paola Pasqualini, who, after many years, has reunited with some of her Albanian sisters, with whom she had studied in Italy before the war. The sisters now number 27. They survived the regime by taking refuge in their villages and dedicating themselves to direct charitable work, since they were unable to engage in religious ministry publicly. In another dormitory, the well-known Jesuit Giacomo Gardin, 87, has returned to live in Shkodër, a city where he spent many years of his life, including 10 years in prison, from 1945 to 1955.

BRUSSELS — King Baldovino I of the Belgians died on Saturday evening at 9:30 p.m. in Motril, Spain, from a heart attack. He was 63 years old. The king had undergone heart surgery the previous year. On Saturday evening, the intervention of a cardiologist who rushed to help him immediately after the attack at his home, Astrida, near Granada, was in vain. King Baldovino had been staying there on holiday since July 22 with his wife, Queen Fabiola. Baldovino and Fabiola had no children. The throne could go to King Filippo, 32, the first child of the king’s brother, Alberto, Prince of Liège, who renounced his claim to the throne, and of Paola Ruffo from Calabria. According to some recent interpretations, the throne could go to Prince Filippo’s sister, Astrid, married to Grand Duke Lorenzo Di Asburgo, under the law adopted by the Albanian Parliament in 1991, a law that excluded women from succession to the throne. One of the last photographs of King Baldovino

A fruitful and concrete visit by the President of the Albanian Olympic Committee, Arben Jorgoni, to the Italian Olympic Committee; at the meeting with his Italian counterpart, Pescante, the foundations were laid for signing an official protocol. Meanwhile, the Italian regional and provincial committees were also officially given the opportunity to establish relations and exchanges with the Albanian Olympic Committee. Jorgoni was able to meet with a number of presidents of various Italian sports federations (gymnastics, swimming, timekeeping, cycling, etc.), who promised concrete assistance in the near future. For example, the national cycling team will train at the Monteroni cycling track (near Leçe) to prepare for the Mediterranean Games in Bari in 1997. Several issues concerning the transfer of athletes have also been resolved, including that of Sazan Fisheku, a well-known pole-vaulter who has been in Italy for two years and may be registered with an athletics club in Leçe, but will also be available to the Albanian national team. Meetings between the provincial Olympic committees of Pulja and the Albanian Olympic Committee are planned in the near future to establish relations, exchanges and assistance, which are expected to be quite extensive, beginning in September.

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