“Massacre” in the famous sculptor’s studio Paskali’s death mask is missing “Massacre” in the famous sculptor’s studio Skënderbeu stolen Paskali’s death mask is missing ANDREA STEFANI TIRANA — Skënderbeu has once again fallen victim to theft. The original plaster cast of the well-known bust of the legendary strategist, created by the famous sculptor Odhise Paskali, has disappeared without a trace. Five centuries ago, the Ottoman Turks, angered by the deeds of their greatest challenger, had dug up his grave in Lezhë and stolen his bones to use as talismans. Today it is his fellow countrymen who are stealing the most prominent bust of their National Hero—apparently to bring them greater luck in the market economy—dealing a perhaps irreparable blow to Albania’s art collection. Another episode has thus come to light in what could be described as the massacre or exodus of art, one of the most painful phenomena of the transition period. Once again, the traces of the crime disappear into the turmoil of 1990–92. It was Floriana Paskali—the daughter of the People’s Sculptor—who informed the “Gazeta Shqiptare” of the tragic news that the original had disappeared; and it is known that without it, producing other copies is difficult. It was one of the masterpieces of Albanian art. After returning from Greece, she went to the rooms of his studio, which had been turned into accommodation for several homeless families. “From the inventory I made of the studio,” Paskali’s daughter says, “it appears that, besides the original bust of Kastriot, other works were also missing, while quite a few had been damaged. In addition to these,” she adds, “the death masks of Odhise Paskali’s face and hands have also disappeared.” According to an official report dated 17 July this year, the studio currently contains 19 medallions of prominent people, 38 portraits, 6 sketches and models, and 12 statues. Behind this painful episode, a civil dispute is unfolding between the sculptor’s heir and the families housed in his studio. “We moved into this building in March 1992,” Myzafer Avdja, a resident in the studio building, tells the Gazeta, “when it was completely abandoned, and our presence was what protected it from further theft.” Meanwhile, Mrs Paskali disputes this account and is also demanding that they leave the studio building, where they have been sleeping for more than a month on her private property. The Municipality and law-enforcement authorities have now been called upon to resolve the dispute. The Municipality has also issued residence permits to the people staying in Paskali’s building. Whatever the outcome, the loss suffered by the sculpture collection is virtually irreparable. One of the copies of the well-known bust of Skënderbeu made by Odhise Paskali

Damage everywhere TIRANA — Storms and widespread flooding affected many areas of Albania this weekend. The consequences are severe. The damage recorded is extensive and countless: houses destroyed, trees uprooted, landslides, and numerous blackouts. Saranda, Dukagjin, and Puka appear to have been the worst affected. The situation is most serious in Fushë-Arrëz, where houses, trees, and various buildings were caught in the cyclone’s vortex. According to a preliminary assessment, thousands of square metres of glass have been shattered, many kilometres of power lines have been severed, and large volumes of earth have slid down, even blocking roads. The picture is no less turbulent in the villages of Dukagjin. Here, just 10 minutes were enough for the storm to carry away several houses—fortunately, there were no casualties among people or livestock—and to tear away large areas of resin, vineyards, and various fruit trees. The madness of the weather did not spare southern Albania either, where the worst-hit victim was the city of Saranda. Here, the destructive force of the wind tore the roofs off all the houses in the local villages. Many trees that adorned the city could not withstand the storm and were uprooted. In any case, the situation has calmed, and efforts to repair and restore conditions have begun in all the affected areas.

Frenchman’s success in Sicily, at an average speed of 38 kilometres per hour Frenchman Luc Leblanc has won the World Championship for professional cyclists in the race held along the Temples valley near Agrigento in Sicily. Leblanc covered the 252 kilometres in 6 hours, 33' and 54”, at an average speed of 38.347 km/h. He finished just 9” ahead of Italian Chiappucci and Frenchman Tietjer Virenque. Only 56 of the 172 participants completed the race. Two Albanians took part in the 42-kilometre time trial, won by the Englishman Boardman. Of the 57 participants, Agim Tafili came 54th, 12’35” behind, while Paja finished in 55th place, 12’59” behind. French champion Luc Leblanc

Schumacher loses the victory BELGIUM — German Michael Schumacher, winner of the Belgian Grand Prix in “Formula 1” driving a Benetton, has been disqualified by the FIA for a technical irregularity in the car. The winner is now Damon Hill (Williams), second is Mika Hakkinen (Mc Laren), and third is Jos Verstappen (Benetton). During the technical inspections carried out after the race, an irregularity was found on the winning car. It concerned the small step fitted at the end of the aerodynamic plank at the bottom of the flat floor, which is intended to reduce the speed of the cars. The step in question is a strip of synthetic material, similar to wood, one centimetre in diameter, fitted to the underside of the cars. Under the new regulations, this step must not protrude by more than 10 percent of its diameter, that is, one millimetre. And it was precisely this irregularity that was found on Schumacher’s “Benetton.”

INSTEAD OF SOUNDING THE ALARM, THEY FILMED HER DROWNING — A woman dived in to save her daughter-in-law and her husband, who were at risk of drowning in a pit filled with sand and water, while dozens of tourists filmed the scene with video cameras instead of raising the alarm. It happened on Monday, but the incident only became known two days later in Mont Saint Michel, in Normandy. Mont Saint Michel, where a famous castle stands in France, is an island connected to the mainland by a road that is covered by the tide at around 5 p.m. At low tide, the island is surrounded by large expanses of sand where the rocks are turis[?]. MEXICO: ZEDILLO ELECTED PRESIDENT — Ernesto Zedillo, the candidate of the Revolutionary Party, was officially declared the winner of Mexico’s 21 August presidential election. Zedillo won 48.77 percent of the vote; he will therefore be president of Mexico for six years. In second place, with 25.94 percent, was candidate Diego Fernandez of the Conservative Party (conservatives), and with 16.6 percent was Cuauhtemoc Cardenas of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (the left). THE ENGLISH LIKE THE MONARCHY — Recent polls have shown that, at least in England, despite the many people who say they are fed up, many want the monarchy. This was revealed by a poll conducted by the newspaper «Independent» on Sunday: 80 percent of those taking part said they were fed up with hearing about the problems of the royal family, but 64 percent of the English[?] support the monarchy with the Queen. 68 percent think Prince Charles and Lady Diana should divorce. USA-RUSSIA: FAILURE[?] DELAYS JOINT ARMS-CONTROL PROGRAM — Failure to reach agreement on arms control has led the two great superpowers to postpone resuming talks on their joint nuclear-weapons program. According to a source in Russia, the USA has left the final contract, which is to be signed for the joint weapons program, to be completed at the beginning of next year.

PUKË, TIGHTER OVERSIGHT OF FOREST USERS — The Pukë District Council has called for stricter measures to monitor all private entities exploiting the district’s forest resources under the relevant licences. According to several members of the council, the first signs of indiscriminate exploitation of this major resource have been observed, including speculative practices and failure to respect the boundaries of the areas assigned to them for use. Puka has the largest forest area in the entire country, close to 100,000 hectares. FIER, INSPECTIONS OF ENTERPRISES REGARDING WORKERS’ CONDITIONS — Sources at the Fier District Labour Inspectorate have reported that inspections it conducted uncovered irregularities at several enterprises in the district. Thus, according to the same source, deficiencies in hygiene and sanitation conditions were noted at oil-maintenance enterprises. Processing enterprises have intensified the [?] exploitation of workers. At enterprises producing oil and chromium, there have been problems with personal protective equipment, which is intended to protect workers. TROPOJË, 70 FAMILIES SEEK COMPENSATION FOR LAND FLOODED BY RESERVOIRS — The demand for compensation for flooded land continues. A group of families from a village in Tropojë have now come forward to seek compensation for their land, which ended up underwater after the flooding caused by a hydroelectric power station built years ago. The rural families have lost a total of 52 hectares of land. A recent government decision on compensation for land flooded by the lake of the hydroelectric power station includes these families in the category of those who are also entitled to assistance from their specialists.

SHKODER — It seems that hard times have come to Shkodër for all those who overindulge in alcohol. From now on, they will have to deal with the city municipality. According to the official news agency, the municipality of the largest northern city has decided to declare war on all amateur “abusers” of alcoholic drinks. A municipal decision recently approved prohibits the sale of such drinks to anyone who is drunk. Some time ago, an almost identical decision — setting the hours during which these drinks could be sold — was adopted by the Municipality of Elbasan. It seems that the “excesses” of alcoholics in Albanian cities, and people’s complaints, have finally reached the ears of the authorities in this city, prompting them to take their first step. In many cases, intoxicated people have caused disturbances of the public peace and even numerous quarrels that have ended tragically.

Large quantities seized LUSHNJE — Raids on pharmacies in the city of Lushnje. Three of them had been selling a large quantity of expired medicines, which have now been seized by state authorities. The official news agency reported that the value of the expired medicines was 317 thousand lekë. Thus, the three pharmacies in Lushnje had apparently been intent on not losing their profits, without regard for their clients’ health; in this case, instead of improving, their health was very likely made worse by taking medicines that should have been out of use. In the same district, in Divjakë, 646,458 lekë worth of medicines were seized from a private pharmacy. According to the official authorities, it was operating without a license.

TIRANE — The number of Albanian emigrants deported from Greece is rising at a troubling rate. Figures and data show that more than 1,500 people arrive each day at various border crossings. By Sunday evening, the refugees returned to Albania numbered more than 25 thousand, while the wave of deportations — which began on August 15, the day the trial of five ethnic Greek Albanian citizens began in Tirana — shows no sign of stopping. Indeed, threats from government circles in Athens continue to grow harsher, despite Tirana’s offers of dialogue, with insistence on the release of the five members of the minority.

Referendum ends in the “Republic” of Pale Bosnian Serbs vote against peace Kozi rev in Belgrade calls for new agreements BEOGRAD — Voting in the Serbo-Bosnian “republic” ended without incident. Around one million people, according to official figures from Pale, the capital of this “republic,” voted for or against the peace plan that had been rejected by the government and Parliament. It is almost certain that the answer will be “no,” and this will weigh heavily on the future course of events. But the result will be announced only this evening. Not by chance, according to the preliminary figures, turnout was higher in villages (areas where government propaganda is more credible) than in cities, while the centers that under the peace plan would pass from Serbian control into the hands of the Croat-Muslims were the only group to show greater reluctance to vote. In the capital, the president of Krajina, a geographically Croatian region with a Serbian separatist majority, Milan Martić, also voted. He was not entitled to vote, but explained that he had done so only as a symbolic gesture, to express his opposition to the peace plan. But while Pale begins to close ranks in its council, Belgrade seems no longer willing to pay the price itself. Russia’s foreign minister, Andrei Kozi rev, arrives in the Serbian capital (from where he will leave for Sarajevo and then Zagreb). Kozi rev will try, on behalf of the Security Council, to negotiate an agreement with President Slobodan Milosheviç. Kozi rev will also again ask Milosheviç to accept international monitoring of the border with the Serbo-Bosnian republics, which was closed 24 days ago after the Serbs said “no” to the peace plan accepted by Belgrade. So far Milosheviçi has officially said “no,” justifying his response by citing the defense of national dignity; but the real reason was to have the sanctions against Yugoslavia lifted. A polling station in Brcko (Bosnia)

Terrorism KAJRO — Security measures are already under way in Cairo to protect the delegations that will take part in the UN Conference on Population and Development. KAJRO — Security measures are already under way in Cairo to protect the delegations that will take part in the UN Conference on Population and Development, while the official Egyptian media continue to ignore the death threats made by the fundamentalist organization “Jamma Islamiyya” against participants in what it has called the “conference of debauchery.” On Friday, a fundamentalist attack on a minibus carrying tourists in Egypt, carried out by “Jamaa,” claimed the life of a 13-year-old boy. The attack was condemned by the Egyptian organization for the defense of human rights and by the Muslim Brotherhood, which oppose acts of violence by armed groups. The organization also criticized “the role of certain representatives of ‘al Azhara,’” the most important center of Sunni Islamic theology, based in Cairo.

In Milan MILANO — A young Albanian woman was kidnapped and raped by five fellow countrymen in an apartment in Piazza Padova, Milan. The young woman herself reported the five Albanians after managing to escape from the apartment’s front door; the apartment was on the ground floor. The young woman, stopped by a Police car a few minutes after leaving the residence, had no documents with her. She said she was 18 and had been born in Elbasan. According to the young woman, the five Albanians took her from a hotel in the Lombard capital, where she was staying with her brother, and drove her in a gray “Volkswagen Golf” to an apartment in Piazza Padova, where they locked her in and raped her.

YESTERDAY IN THE WORLD YESTERDAY IN ALBANIA A decision by the Municipality Large quantities seized INSIDE From Greece

Albanian football championship begins Tirana’s team leads ON PAGE 3 Lecturer Marco Dogos writes the history of the conflict Kosovo’s pain in a book ON PAGE 2