DEFENSE CIA personnel, equipment and radars will come directly from Germany. That is how the forces will be monitored The spy-plane plan Albania becomes the eyes of the USA TIRANA — Less than a week ago the American delegation that visited Tirana announced Washington’s decision to liberalize the import into Albania of “strategic materials for defense.” Yesterday the American weekly Aviation Week and Space Technology explained what this means: within the month of February, twelve CIA experts, a radar station and two “Gnat 750” spy planes will arrive in Albania from a German base, with which the military movements of the Serbs fighting in Bosnia will be monitored. The news was confirmed to the Austrian agency DPA by military sources at the Pentagon. There has been no confirmation in Albania. The story of the spy planes that could be deployed to an air base in northern Albania began several months ago, when American experts — who appeared in the military intervention in Bosnia requested by the UN — studied a plan to monitor the military movements of the Serbian army. The “Gnat 750” aircraft can operate within a radius of 800 kilometers from the airport from which they are launched, so a base in Albania would reach Italy. But Italy — for reasons that even today have not been clarified — refused. “The news of the Italian refusal — explains American journalist John Morrocco, the author of the scoop — was kept secret for many weeks and I had to work hard before I could verify it. I still could not find the reason for the obstacle put in place by Rome.” Then — writes the American weekly — a transfer, directed at senior Albanian officials, allows the replacement of aircraft parts for their movement, through Albania[?]. The plan costs around 6 million dollars. According to the CIA statement it should have started in the first days of February, but a series of technical delays have pushed it back to the end of the month. What exactly is the mission? The “Gnat 750” aircraft are built by the General Atomics factory of San Diego: they fly without a pilot, can remain in the air for 24 hours and, at an altitude of about 8,000 meters, photograph and capture everything that happens on the ground. The information collected can be transmitted directly to the Washington center via satellite. The aircraft, absolutely, are not capable of firing and their only function is limited to observation. The bases in Albania would serve to receive and return the aircraft (which need technical assistance every 24 hours), then, through the radar station that will be installed, the aircraft would be tracked from Albania and directed toward specific targets. The “Gnat 750” will fly especially in the skies of Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia, but they can also be seen as far as over Belgrade. “Blackbird,” one of the most famous American spy planes; it is a piloted type (there are no photographs of unmanned aircraft)

Northern Border MALËSI E MADHE — The first balances in the fight against smuggling are being announced. During 1993 alone in Malësia e Madhe, 670 smuggling cases were caught while entering the UN-established embargo for the countries of the former Yugoslavia. In most of these cases — identified by the Financial Police — the goods were fuels intended for trade with Montenegro. The smuggling took place through the waters of Lake Shkodra. For all the cases intercepted, the Financial Police has taken various measures, issuing more than 1,000 fines. “The smuggling problem — especially the one involving fuels — continues to be difficult and worrying. Recently, in order to eliminate this phenomenon, police checks on cars traveling toward Shkodër or Malësia e Madhe have been numerous. It was in these same areas that, in January 1994, the pipes that would carry fuel to Montenegro were also discovered. The mysterious pipelines crossed the waters of the Buna from one bank to the other and transported fuel by means of a powerful motor pump. This discovery — considered a scandal — had a huge echo not only in the press. One consequence was also the resignation of the head of the Financial Police in Shkodër. (p. re)

Sport SERIE A / Italian championship Inter equalizes in the last minute An image of the thrilling Inter-Cagliari match, which ended 3-3. Ruben Sosa scores Inter’s second goal. Behind him, the referee On page 4 the results of the other matches On page 3 the results of the Albanian Cup On page 5 the history of the World Cup

Unauthorized houses over the oil field Serious conditions in 100 plants KUÇOVË — Illegal construction continues to become a serious obstacle. This time it has even managed to block the oil. More than 100 wells in the Kuçovë oil field have long been completely out of operation. The entire surrounding area has been taken over by houses that are being built. The Kuçovë oil field now seriously risks becoming unusable. The number of homes being built in this area — instead of decreasing — is increasing. Despite the interventions of the Oil Enterprise together with the Municipality, this phenomenon is not stopping. But what is even more worrying is that — according to the Albanian Telegraphic Agency — the people who have come to live in this area are also damaging the existing wells. In many cases they have thrown stones and coal into them, thus making further operation impossible. The Kuçovë oil field is still considered an oil-bearing area. So far only 15 percent of this resource has been exploited. Now there is a risk that this rich basin will become completely unusable.

TRADE UNIONISTS MEET WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE FPN IN ALBANIA — A group of representatives of the Independent Trade Unions, led by their president Valer Xheka, met with Wel Ding — president of the FPM representative office in Albania — and strongly expressed during a meeting their concerns about the standard of living of workers during the transition period. The Albanian trade union representatives — said Ding among other things — are facing transformations and for some time these will weigh on the well-being of Albanians. IN PËRMET, MAJOR FINANCIAL VIOLATIONS ARE VERIFIED — There are 78 people in the Përmet district who have committed financial violations with an estimated value of 1.5 million lekë. This situation was identified as a result of an inspection carried out in 51 units by the Financial Police and local government bodies. For the violations — according to the scale of the damage — measures have been taken to punish or to file charges with the competent authorities IN FIER, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS INTERPRET WORKS BY ENGLISH AUTHORS — “A parade of English culture” was the name of the event organized in the city of Fier by students of the high school “Rinia”. Eighteen literary-cultural performances were held in one of the city’s theaters — the students recited in English works by renowned British authors such as Burns and Dylan, or told anecdotes from the subtle English humor. In addition, books and brochures were given to the participants, including the book “Brença e Ballkanit” by Edith Durham, “Mbi dukurime në Shqipëri”

HORSE STOLEN AND KILLED — Shergar is the name of the racehorse, stolen by IRA kidnappers 8 years ago and killed after no one wanted to pay for his ransom. Now the mysterious figure has come to light and is asking to be rewarded for his head. THE USA RESPOND TO THOSE WHO WERE BREWING IN THE USA, NINE OF THEM DROWNED — Nine Cubans, among them five children, have died and five others are missing as a result of the sinking of a small boat on which they were trying to leave their country for the United States. The group of Cubans, 19 people in all, had tried to leave the island through the coast. Fortunately, some survived, including one communications soldier mafia[?]. GERMANY, UNIONS TAKE TO THE HIGHWAY — For several months a section of the highway near Hamburg was cut off from diamonds, by a layer that the leaders were circling. This happened after the car of one official with the road border. In an accident, police said, the load of objects was thrown out of the car and opened FRANCE, THREE SKIERS DIE FROM TWO AVALANCHES IN SAVOIE — The representative of the prison[?] of the Games, where three skiers lost their lives from avalanches in the Sunday descent in Chambéry. The following morning, a rescue team searched for a group of Swiss people, of whom nothing had been known for some time, and found beneath the snow the bodies of five of them and of the French guide who was with them. One female skier remained alive from the group and was later hospitalized in critical condition in the Chambéry hospital. The other two victims died in the same circumstances.

Tiranë — The flowerbeds of Tirana are threatened by kiosks. Of the 3,000 kiosks placed in Tirana over the last two years, 320 of them have been built on park grounds. As a result, residents have fewer and fewer green spaces for relaxation from day to day. The presence of kiosks has also become worrying because of the unnecessary waste they accumulate and the lack of drainage systems. According to experts, these types of units, because of their small size, make it almost impossible to equip them with “toilets”

To discover the present The importance of a survey Speaks the president of the «Eureka» Center ON PAGE 2 Siena, the beautiful fairy tale of the violinist girl The extraordinary story of Valbona ON PAGE 2

Cold, but the weather will improve DURRES — The sea is stormy and the connections with Italy have been interrupted; the storm that swept across the entire Mediterranean at the end of the week created severe weather. In the coastal cities, on Saturday and Sunday, the departures of ferries and of the hydrofoil from Italy to Durrës were halted; the rough sea — with enormous waves — made navigation dangerous, as well as entry into the port. Air connections, fortunately only on Saturday, also suffered an interruption; the Tirana-Bari flights were postponed that day by 40 hours[?] because of the very strong winds from the sea[?]. The same happened for Bari-Rinas. In some places the wind reached a speed of 100 kilometers per hour. The sea state improved slightly during the day, and even the main air services remained stable. For this morning, temperatures have dropped, with zero expected in many areas of the country. According to meteorologists, in the coming hours the weather changes that have caused a strong wind should cross the Balkans and move toward the East. So the weather in the country will still be cold. (p. re) Rough sea in Bari

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