Aid scandal, Albanian judges’ mission to Rome De Michelis heard for half an hour FRANCO GIULIANO ROME — Punctually, at 9 o’clock on Friday morning, former Foreign Minister Gianni De Michelis appeared on “Aventino” Street, at the barracks of the Carabinieri operational unit, to be heard as a witness by Albanian prosecutors investigating alleged irregularities in their country, purportedly committed by former Socialist Prime Minister Fatos Nano in connection with Italian aid to Albania. Gianni De Michelis, accompanied by one of his two lawyers, Roberto Rampioni, spoke for more than 30 minutes. According to the lawyer, the former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained to the Albanian prosecutors how the Ministry—of which he was in charge at the time of these events—had initiated the procedure for sending the aid. “My client,” said lawyer Rampioni, who, together with Professor Giovanni Fick, is defending the former minister, “was not questioned. Therefore, our conversation with the Albanian prosecutors was not a formal interrogation. It was, rather, a simple conversation. The decision to attend this conversation this morning was simply a courtesy to the Albanian prosecutors.” That was all. Then the two disappeared into Rome’s traffic. Every attempt by journalists to make contact with De Michelis was in vain. The former minister (for whom Italian judge Evelina Canale has asked the Court of Ministers for authorization to proceed) has avoided any contact with the press, as he has been doing for several weeks now. The questioning, conducted by Giovanni Carlino, an adviser to the Rome Court of Appeal, at the request submitted by the Albanian Court, ended shortly before 10 o’clock. A few minutes later, the Albanian prosecutors also came out of the barracks. The group of prosecutors, made up of the Head of the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office, Arben Qeleshi, the Head of the Investigative Commission, Fatos Dervishi, and four other Albanian justice officials, heard as a witness, in the same barracks, Giuseppe Paolo Periniola, administrator of Le Canto Co, one of the Italian companies that was supposed to supply the aid. The long list of people whom the prosecutors will hear in the coming days is part of the investigation launched to establish how the aid mechanism operated in Albania under the same Fatos Nano government; those to be heard include former Foreign Minister Sokrat Plaka and other former ministers and officials. In addition to Periniola, the prosecutors will hear tomorrow former Italian Ambassador to Albania Torquato Cardilli, Minister Plenipotentiary Enrico Di Maio and Farnesina official Vincenzo Altamura, as well as former Minister for Foreign Trade Claudio Vitalone, against whom prosecutor Canale has issued a notice of investigation. According to the Italian judge handling the Albanian side of the scandal, the alleged fraud would not have been carried out if the mechanism had not worked during the inspection conducted at the port of Durrës by the Albanian company “AlbKontroll.” To verify this hypothesis, Judge Canale will travel personally to Albania (reportedly during the middle of next week), together with the Albanian delegation. Prosecutor Qeleshi leaves the Carabinieri barracks, where he attended the questioning of former minister De Michelis.

The story of a sister and brother from Peshkopia They live by lamplight; there is no water or electricity The story of a sister and brother from Peshkopia A bunker has housed a family for two years They live by lamplight; there is no water or electricity TIRANA — Bunkers are still being used in Albania. But not for the purpose for which the regime designed them, nor as makeshift shops and disco-bars, as they have recently become in Lushnjë and Gjirokastër. This time, one of them, atop a hill in Paskuqan—in the Tirana district—has been turned into a home. It was not romantic reasons that drove the couple from Peshkopia to move into this very unusual place. Nearly two years ago, like all the other homeless people, they had found themselves on the streets of the capital. Unable to find a home, they had been forced to choose the “military base” as their shelter. After clearing away the mud and dirt they found in their new dwelling of iron and concrete, they settled in for good. But a year later, a tragic event shook the 27-year-old woman from Peshkopia. Her husband was killed. The cause was a plot of land which, it seems, he had wanted to cultivate to earn some income. Left alone, the woman was joined by her brother, a year older than her, who decided to live with her. Since that day, nothing has changed except the landscape around the bunker. There are only a few haystacks and an exhausted cow. It is truly a shocking sight. Here, life seems to have stopped a century ago. This “home” has neither water nor electricity, and the oil lamp is the only source of light. And the pride of the bunkers once seemed to be the bunker itself. But times have changed. There are the foundations of a building—this time a real one—that the sister and brother want to build. They work a little each day. But even they do not know when they will have a home of their own, a home, after all, without the gloom and anguish that hangs over them every day. The family living in a bunker (Photo A. Babani)

The multimillionaire apologizes to Berisha Nazi resigns

Stalin and the former PPSH Committee are forgotten SHKODRA — (Na.Me.) The true symbols are returning. Shkodra—the first city in Albania to blow up Stalin’s bust—has now decided to erect a statue of Luigj Gurakuqi in its place. This site, left empty since the demonstration of 13 January 1990—during which the regime arrested [tr] young people from Shkodra—has now been cordoned off to make way for the statue. A group of workers from the City Municipal Enterprise have just cleared the grounds of the garden known as “Milet Bahçe” of several shacks built recently. The statue of Luigj Gurakuqi has been entrusted to Shkodra sculptor Ferid Kola. According to [tuj], this work is 2.5 metres high and will stand on a stone pedestal 2 metres high. But Stalin’s former bust is not the only symbol of the communist past to be replaced: the former Party Committee building—burned down on 2 April 1991—will, after 30 months, be assigned to the University of Shkodra. It had previously been considered for use as a telegraph post office—also much needed in Shkodra—but was ultimately given to the University, which is preparing to open new faculties next year.

The multimillionaire apologizes to Berisha “Soros” Foundation Nazi resigns TIRANA — (p.re) The debate over the “Open Society for Albania” Foundation and its Executive Director in Tirana has erupted. But Alhorx Soros, the multimillionaire financier of the Tirana Foundation, intervened immediately from Budapest, announcing to the press that he accepted Fron Nazi’s resignation from the post of Executive Director of his Foundation in the Albanian capital. A few days ago, multimillionaire Soros had personally written to Albania’s President, Sali Berisha, protesting strongly against attacks by TVSH and some of its organs on the Tirana Foundation. The letter was then given to the press by Nazi, and tensions rose further. “When President Berisha contacted me, I apologized for this mistake,” Soros writes. “Fron Nazi immediately withdrew the letter that had been sent to the press, managing to stop its publication. After that, he submitted his resignation.” Last week, relations between the Foundation and some Albanian authorities became strained. The cause was the removal from the University of Tirana premises of the offices of a student newspaper, some of whose funding had been provided by the Foundation.

The Albanian Gazette’s initiative to give readers old panoramas of several Italian cities has been a great success. Indeed, many people who were unable to find them at newsstands have asked us to repeat the initiative. Precisely in order to meet this request, starting today the Albanian Gazette will continue to distribute an old panorama as a gift together with the newspaper. Today’s gift is a panorama of Matera.

A SEMINAR ON PRIVATIZATION AND INVESTMENTS HELD IN TIRANA — The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe organized a seminar on legislation in the fields of privatization and foreign investment. Those present followed with interest the discussions by Professor Gëdu Gerin of the International Institute for the Study of Human Rights Protection, as well as that of Professor Erolin Doçi of the University of Getinburg in Germany. The seminar also addressed the problems of drafting and implementing our legislation on privatization and the marketing of foreign investors. THE SALE CONTRACT FOR THE “MATI” HOTEL IN BURREL DECLARED VOID — A District Court ruling has declared invalid the contract through which the “Mati” hotel in the city of Burrel was privatized a year ago. This followed several irregularities identified by the State Control Service concerning the privatization procedures. These relate to the calculation of the building’s depreciation and the cost of organizing the auction. The violations — according to the Court — have [??] the value of the property in a fixed manner, harming the interests of the state. WORK BEGINS TO WIDEN THE BRIDGE NEAR THE “ALI DEMI” BLOCK IN TIRANA — Following the widening of the Lana bridge on Elbasan Street, work has now begun to widen the bridge near the “Ali Demi” block as well. Upon completion of this project, which will be implemented at the Waterworks Enterprise bridge in Tirana, the bridge’s width will increase from its current 5 meters to 14 meters. Of the six 5-meter-wide spans, some will be used for vehicle traffic, while six others will serve as sidewalks for pedestrians. To carry out this project, Tirana Municipality will invest 1.5 million lek by the end of the year. A NEW ENTERPRISE FOR PRODUCING CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS BEGINS OPERATIONS IN KUKES — Supplying construction enterprises with bricks, blocks and building materials is the purpose of the newly inaugurated enterprise for the extraction of sand and production of construction materials in Rrubë, Kukës. The enterprise — which has so far employed 60 people — aims to supply not only construction enterprises in the district, but also those outside it.

Today as a gift an old panorama

“Here are those who killed Falcone and his escort” Eighteen bosses accused of the massacre, including Riina ON PAGE 2 A price increase is being considered for two highly sought-after products How much alcohol and tobacco comes from imports? Albanian goods are protected ON PAGE 3