The dispute began over the rent The Foundation protests against the Cultural Center FATOS BAXHAKU TIRANA — After several months of negotiations, “Soros” has decided to leave the “Pyramid.” The conflict with the administration of the International Cultural Center over the issue of rent payments did not reach an acceptable solution. Indignant, “Soros” announced its decision in a statement by its director for Albania, Fran Nazi. The news that “Soros” is leaving its traditional headquarters has surprised many. This is a foundation that has done a great deal to support Albanian cultural institutions. “Soros” aid to Albania last year was 800,000 dollars, while this year it is 1.5 million. The American foundation has even donated technical equipment worth nearly 20,000 dollars to the International Center itself. The history of disagreements between “Soros” and the Center’s administration began three or four months ago, when the Ministry of Culture asked the administrators of the “Pyramid” to improve their revenues. The gigantic building, which cost 60 million dollars, must justify at least a small part of that sum. After this, “Soros” was immediately asked to pay rent for the premises at its disposal: two offices and a storeroom, at 70 dollars per square meter per year. All subsequent negotiations failed, even though the foundation agreed to pay the requested rent. But should a foundation that pays millions of dollars for culture really have to pay? Of course, everyone has their own reasons for acting as they do. “Soros” obtained the right, through a Council of Ministers decision, to be housed free of charge starting in January ’93. A sign that the Albanian government is grateful to it. But nevertheless the question arises: if all organizations that provide assistance in a country were to be housed free of charge, wouldn’t that, in a sense, cancel out the assistance given? “Absurd interpellation submitted to the Government” Seven Italian MPs

“He issued a visa to a Yugoslav” TIRANA — (Ed. La) — Official answers are beginning to emerge regarding the arrest of the Albanian diplomat, Sulejman Lani. “His arrest was not because of his position as First Secretary at the Albanian Embassy in Belgrade,” prosecutor Fitim Hoxhati states, “but because of the duties he carried out as a consul.” Thus, at last, the official version is being given—which matches the Newspaper’s account—that “a visa issued by the Albanian diplomat in Belgrade did not comply with the regulations.” The prosecutor, who knows about the case, also acknowledges that the Yugoslav citizen with the irregular visa was caught at the border. That is all, without specifying which border, land or sea—a matter that still needs to be verified—in order to separate “Nikos K” from diplomat Lani once and for all. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that I knew nothing about that visa, and it was the Ministry that reported the case in question,” Fitim Hoxhati concludes. This is no small mystery, given that many of Lani’s superiors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs learned of their diplomat’s arrest only by chance. “None of the Yugoslav citizens held in Tirana prison was given a visa by Sulejman Lani,” says with confidence the 26-year-old lawyer from Shkodra, Valbona Durraj. “In fact, I can say that Sulejman’s story has nothing to do with that of the Greek janis ‘Nikos K’.” This is the lawyer who handled the initial procedures after diplomat Lani’s arrest. Today, Valbona has handed her client over to another lawyer, and that lawyer in turn has passed him on to a different attorney. The Italian port authorities in Brindisi say that aboard the phantom ship “Nikos K”—which Spartak Ngjela says is connected to the arrested diplomat—were Zlatko Matejevic from Kotor, Refik Haxhi from Kërçelja, Petar Matejevic from Cetinja, Zorran Teodorovic from Kotor, Milenko Vujovic from Vir-Pazar, and the ship’s captain, Dejan Xhorxhevic. But one of them is missing from Tirana Prison. It is precisely Milenko Vujovic who, in addition to the mystery of not being arrested, also offers the alternative possibility that he may have had a regular visa. “It concerns only two visas,” lawyer Valbona Durraj insists again. Although she knows that this alone is not enough to lift the veil of the “Lani mystery,” for now she refuses to say anything more.

CAT STEVENS: his true story The former singer will speak in Tirana, Shkodra, Vlorë and Elbasan Back when rock music was banned in Albania, entire generations listened to it in secret. Thousands of young people dreamed of seeing him, meeting him, applauding him, and experiencing the emotions of a concert like those broadcast on television. But fate is strange: now that Cat Stevens is no longer Cat Stevens but the Muslim brother Yusuf Islam, he has been able to come to Albania. He arrived in Tirana yesterday, and until June 4 he will tour the country, speaking to young people and intellectuals of the religion he embraced several years ago, after deciding to leave behind the success and life of a rock star and become president of the Islamic charity society headquartered in London. The initiative is that of the Albanian intellectual society “Kultura Islamike.” Today at 6 p.m. Yusuf Islam will be at the International Cultural Center; tomorrow at the same time he will go to the “Asllan Rusi” sports palace, and on June 2—also at 6 p.m.—he will go to the National History Museum. On June 1 he will go to Shkodra, on June 2 (at 10 in the morning) to Elbasan, on June 3 to Gjirokastër, and on June 4 to Vlorë (at 10 in the morning), at ... Seriously ill with tuberculosis and, above all, in crisis over his role as a pop star, Stevens was forced to take two years off and reflect, which led him to choose a musical path different from his previous one. Returning to the stage in the ’70s, he became a symbol of the era with the album Mona Bone Jakon, which contained the unforgettable and delicate song Lady and the Chocolate Box and Numbers, although these were followed by two other records, Izitso and Back to Earth, which were the final signs of his departure from the Western world ... Cat Stevens (Macoku Stefano), as his Italian admirers have always called him, lives increasingly in solitude, donating most of the income he earned during that very successful period to Unesco- (f. cost) The figure of Steven Georgiou, whose real name is Cat Stevens, 46, born to Greek-Swiss parents, has always been a distinctive presence in the international pop music scene. At the age of 20, he entered the English record charts, in the years of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, with a number of distinctive compositions filled with traditional Mediterranean sounds (with clearly Greek characteristics). Matthew And Son, his first success, followed by songs such as I’m Gonna Get Me A Gun, The First Cut is the Deepest and Here Comes My Baby, gave him the opportunity to play with Hendrix and other figures of that period. In the ’70s, at the height of his career, he decided to put an end to [?] and embraced the Islamic faith: he changed his name to Yusuf Islam. His songs, such as Mona Bone Jakon, which included the unforgettable and delicate Lady D’Arbanville, dedicated to Patty D’Arbanville, the actress, model, duchess and spirit of the “Swingin London” nights, friend to all the figures of those happy, creative times in the English capital—Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton. The album Tea for the Tillerman, with the song Father and Son, a moving discussion of the relationship between older and younger generations, reached the top spots around the world. His repertoire, with its pure, simple, very “intimate” sounds and dreamy, metaphysical, refined and sensitive lyrics, held up well through the ’70s, then took the experimental and very confusing path of (electronics, orchestral flourishes) at a time when punk music was in favor. The record Buddah. “Cat Stevens,” in seclusion, giving away most of his income (at that time he was entirely [?] of UNESCO) and singing less and less in public. In 1979, by his decision to become a Muslim believer, Steven Georgiou truly became Yusuf Islam, after reading the Qur’an given to him by his brother David, who had brought it back from Jerusalem. His artistic trail disappeared, and he was spoken of only when news was published of the death sentence issued by the Ayatollah of Tehran against the Anglo-Pakistani writer Salman Rushdie for publishing the book The Satanic Verses. Yusuf Islam said that he not only agreed with the sentence but was also willing to kill him personally if he met him face to face. But there is no indication that Rushdie, despite being weary of his long solitude, intends to meet him. Singer Yusuf Islam reading the Quran

Absurd interpellation submitted to the Government

Absurd interpellation submitted to the Government (c.b.) Seven Italian left-wing parliamentarians intervene to defend the former Albanian dictatorship. In an interpellation submitted to Prime Minister Ciampi and Foreign Minister Andretta, they ask the Italian Government to undertake “international initiatives to put an end to the practices of denunciations, imprisonment, political trials, cultural discrimination and reprisals that characterize this phase of Albanian political life.” The document was signed by MPs Bargone (Democratic Party of the Left), Leccese and Crippa (of Blair’s party), Brunetti, Galante, Russo Spena and Mita (Communist Refoundation). In the interpellation, the seven parliamentarians cite, as an example, the verdict of the Tirana court against the widow Hoxha, and the case of former President Alia, who has been under house arrest since last September while awaiting trial. The parliamentarians add that “the Albanian authorities, despite the unlawful antics of the small and unwelcome Communist party, are dismantling the social situation piece by piece.” It does not appear that any of the seven parliamentarians has ever visited Albania, and so it is curious to see an economic, political and social analysis of a country conceived of only from a distance. It is also surprising because even politicians from the democratic camp, such as the seven who signed the interpellation, can describe the widow Hoxha only as “a famous partisan figure,” forgetting that this woman, together with her husband and their “joint Communist Party,” did other things in this country after liberating it—and it is true—from the fascist invasion. There is no doubt that democracy is one of those goals that people always strive to achieve but never attain. And if this applies to democrats all over the world, it applies even more to Albanian democrats, born only 36 months ago. There is no doubt that this country still needs to change many things, a necessity demanded by everyone. But above all it needs to make peace with itself, forget the past, and achieve a calm national reconciliation. It is a pity that the Italian parliamentarians’ documents make no reference to anything of this kind.

SHKODER — The health of the hunger strikers in Shkodër continues to deteriorate. The former owners, who have been on strike for 10 days to protest the property law, have begun experiencing significant physical problems. So far, three hunger strikers have been admitted to hospital, and one of them is in serious condition. This has compelled the doctors to request a special commission to assess their condition. The commission found that all the strikers were generally weak and recommended hospital admission for three of them, who were suffering from hypothermia. The sick strikers refused the doctors’ request.

(f. cost) The figure of Steven Georgiou, whose real name is Cat Stevens, 46, born to Greek-Swiss parents, has always been a distinctive presence in the international pop music scene.

The Viti brothers... The Vitalone brothers in the dock Sport: today Lazio plays for the UEFA Cup Children will be in charge in Potenza for a week

I. Stelia Wilder Aries 20/III 20/IV Whoever wants something should ask; otherwise, say that what you are asking for does not really interest you. There are many things this week has in store for you, but do not be impatient. Taurus 21/IV 20/V You will be protected from advice, but you would do well to put into practice what your instinct suggests. This week you will have the patience to overcome some obstacles. Gemini 21/V 20/VI A series of unexpected and disorganized elements will change your plans. Try to keep up the pace as much as possible and not let the end of the week bring things to a head within the family. Taurus [?] 21/V 20/VI You must decide to face head-on a situation that you should have resolved long ago. Your goals are very ambitious, but entirely legitimate and close at hand [?]. Leo 23/VII 22/VIII You will have a variety of opportunities and will not know which to choose. Discover that yours [?] in moderation. If you take advice and then regret it, try to find some advantage. Virgo 23/VIII 22/IX You need a week of absolute calm. During the first part of the week you have hastened to find yourself in an unpredictable period and to create an environment in which you feel out of place. Libra 23/IX 22/X Only by being off the beaten track [?] can you solve everyday problems before they even arise. Do not worry about a week that is entirely predictable. Scorpio 2/X 21/XI Your instinct clearly tells you that they conflict with what reason is suggesting to you. The truth lies somewhere between the two. You may unknowingly find yourself in a difficult situation. Sagittarius 22/XI 21/XII Wherever you go, you will find things or people that remind you of times past. Prepare for a little melancholy. What seems extraordinary at the beginning of the week may not stay that way. Capricorn 22/XII 19/I Resist the temptation to start celebrating too early; do not give in to enthusiasm if you want to avoid disappointments. You may unexpectedly find resistance right in your own home. Aquarius 20/I 19/II It will not be easy for you to escape unpleasant and disagreeable aspects, but you can make them much more bearable. You must face things with the right attitude. Pisces 20/II 19/III You have the opportunity to anticipate such actions; you just need to get to work as soon as possible and with the greatest determination. Do not worry if the need arises [?] you will be guarded by others.