The aid scandal, the trial is nearing its end The prosecution’s role concludes The aid scandal, the trial is nearing its end Today the prosecution request for Nano The prosecution’s role concludes TIRANA — In a few hours, at the Tirana district court, the sentence requested for Fatos Nano will be proposed. Today at 11 a.m., prosecutors Çeleshi and Gjokutaj will finally — after months and months of investigations — remove the aid scandal case from their prosecution office, leaving the judges to decide. Thus the trial, described as the trial of the year in Albania, is only one step away from ending. Inside it, socialist leader Nano, as well as Plaka, Gjini and Hallko, are waiting to hear for the first time how many years of imprisonment the charges will cost them. Nano for “appropriation of state property on a large scale in the role of accomplice and falsification of official documents,” and the others for “abuse of office.” The only details that will become known by 12 o’clock — when the prosecution’s plea will be presented — are few indeed. The charges against Fatos Nano — who has so far refused to submit to explanations during the judicial investigation — range in punishment from re-education through labor to death. Such a long span of penalty, so much so that — no one except the two prosecutors — can confirm whether it is what they are asking for. In any case, the sum referred to by the prosecution is one of the largest figures the Albanian justice system has faced when a person causes such losses to the State. Even so, today’s plea can only refer to the one confirmed document — the indictment issued by the prosecution, on the basis of which today’s request will naturally also be made. Thus, for Nano, the document completed on 15 February of this year referred to the sum of 73,780,000 lekë, which — according to the indictment — were misappropriated from the Albanian State, with the help of the accused Fatos Nano. This very large figure — also considering the state of the Albanian economy during the famine period when the Italian aid had arrived — also concerns the other accused, Sokrat Plaka, although this time the charge is different. As for Gjini and Hallko, the amount calculated by the prosecution office corresponds to 399,392 lekë and 144,821 lekë respectively. Thus, after a marathon of investigations and court hearings, the Nano case and others, the aid scandal, today for the first time submits the sentences proposed by the prosecution. From the most unpredictable development of the judicial investigation, the sentence for Fatos Nano remains the most uncertain, even though he, by acting quickly, could have given the charges currently hanging over him a different direction. This solution — according to Nano and his lawyers — cannot be reached until their repeated requests for observance of proper legal procedures are carried out — nevertheless it cannot stop the trial of the year. Plaka, Gjini and Hallka together with their lawyers rush to the trial panel — perhaps today for the first time also to feel the charge up close. In any case, with only a few hours left, no one — except prosecutors Çeleshi and Gjokutaj — can predict it. The penultimate step toward the end of the trial still requires a few more hours. After that, the defense of the accused by their lawyers will hear the ruling of the Trial Panel. A routine procedure, which can also change if, this time, Nano and his lawyers break their silence. (p.re.) Fatos Nano

American aircraft begin their mission Now Albania can buy weapons from the Pentagon American aircraft begin their mission The first photographs from the spy planes Now Albania can buy weapons from the Pentagon TIRANA — The American spy planes have now begun their surveillance mission. According to the Italian official news agency ANSA — which confirms this news — these aircraft have carried out their first flights over the territory of former Yugoslavia engulfed in the flames of war. According to the same source, thanks to their wide operating range, departing from the base in Albania, they can reach Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and even Sarajevo and Belgrade. Thus, the first strategic photographs coming from the combat zones have reached the offices of the Pentagon. The two American “U-2” aircraft called “Gnat 750” carry sophisticated electronic equipment that converts the images taken by the onboard video cameras into numerical data. This data is transmitted to a ground station — also in Albania — from where it is relayed in real time, via satellites, to the Pentagon center in Washington. “Gnat 750”, also known in military jargon as “Drone”, are built by General Atomics in San Diego. They have a flight endurance of 800 kilometers in 24 hours and can reach great altitudes, up to 8,000 meters. These aircraft fly without a pilot and every 24 hours require technical assistance. The idea of installing the “Gnat 750” at Albanian air bases had emerged a few months earlier when the US decided to intervene more energetically in resolving the conflict in former Yugoslavia. American experts had studied in detail — the cost of which is estimated at nearly 6 million dollars — the strategic aspects of using them for reconnaissance flights and had also considered installing them in Italy, which — for reasons that have not yet been made public — refused. Later, according to the American weekly “Aviation Week and Space Technology”, the request was submitted to the Albanian government. An intervention directed at the highest Albanian leaders made it possible to obtain the necessary permission for the aircraft mission from Albania. According to the same source, the agreement set their arrival for February of this year. The agreement was later confirmed by the then chairman of the NATO Assembly, Louis Bouvard. The senior military official thanked the Albanian government in Tirana, which “has allowed the American reconnaissance aircraft, tasked with observing military movements in the territories of former Yugoslavia, to come to your country.” Meanwhile, Albania can now also buy weapons and other strategic materials from the US. US President Clinton has signed the lifting of the embargo on the sale of security materials for three Balkan countries: Albania, Bulgaria and Romania. An official in the US administration declared: “These countries, which are now authorized to buy defense materials.... from uniforms to destructive weapons.” p. re. Spy plane over Bosnia Speed: 170 km/h Flight duration: 24 hours Operating range: 800 km The graphic shows the route of the aircraft used to monitor the war zones in former Yugoslavia

From the RAI2 television program Statement by Italian specialists and smugglers From the RAI2 television program “Albania, a crossroads for illegal cigarettes” Statement by Italian specialists and smugglers TIRANA — “Albania is one of the two main routes for supplying the Apulian market with smuggled cigarettes.” This time the signal comes not from law enforcement, but from a television broadcast. In the program “N' coraggio di vivere” — one of the most widely watched programs by Italian viewers — broadcast on Wednesday evening by the RAI 2 television network, the topic chosen this time was cigarette smuggling, which has grown greatly in recent times, especially on the Apulian coast. From there, experts on this phenomenon as well as small street cigarette smugglers described Albania as one of the two main routes for the transit of smuggled cigarettes. “The two main routes are Bari-Tivar or Bari-Gryka e Kotorrit and Bari-Albania,” stressed one of them, a Bari correspondent for “Corriera della Sera” who has been following this problem for some time. During the program, cigarette smuggling was treated more as a sharp social phenomenon than as a criminal problem, one that should be addressed not only through the law, but also through concrete economic measures to eliminate the causes that feed it. (va. bot)

Belgian minister TIRANA — “Albania deserves broad support and it will not be lacking,” said the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium, Vili Klaes, during his meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Meksi. Congratulating Albania for the prudent policy it pursues in the complicated Balkan situation, as well as for its efforts to become a member of NATO, Klaes — who paid a visit to Albania — promised that he would ask the Council of Ministers of the European Community for the fastest possible measures in its support.

THE SWEARING-IN CEREMONY OF THE NEW NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS TOOK PLACE IN TIRANA — The solemn oath-taking ceremony of the new soldiers of the National Guard was held at a military unit near Tirana. Present on this occasion were the Speaker of the Albanian Parliament Pjetër Arbnori and the Chief of the General Staff of the Army, General Ilia Vasho. The oath ceremony took place after an intensive three-month training period for the new soldiers. BANK DEPOSITS AND SAVINGS INCREASE — The savings deposit at the Savings Bank has increased to 500 million lekë. This increase was recorded only during the month of February and since the beginning of this year. The news was announced in a television interview by the bank’s director, Edvin Libohova. According to Libohova, the phenomenon is linked to the reduction of the bank interest rate charged by this bank. COMMEMORATIVE CEREMONY IN LUSHNJE IN HONOR OF FORMER CHAIRMAN ZHITI — The figure of Hekuran Zhiti, a writer and cultural figure executed by the dictatorship, was commemorated in Lushnje. At the ceremony organized on this occasion — with the participation of many fellow citizens — Pjetër Arbnori, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament of the People’s Assembly, was also present. Friends of the deceased once again praised Zhiti both as a writer and for his human dimension. A group of musicians from Lushnje presented for the first time a drama written by Zhiti years earlier.

TIRANA — Parliament has approved its work program for the first month of spring. There are many important draft laws and decisions that it will approve by 30 April. Among them is, for example, the general procedure it will undertake to review the extension of the deadline for property rights documents from former owners, an act which takes the form of an amnesty up to 31 March '94. Among the other items included in the program are, after a law “On weapons”, changes to the law “On political parties” and a draft law on the wider amnesty. There will also be an exchange of views with Prime Minister Meksi, the Minister of Public Order and the Minister of Justice.

A farmer from Mati searches for his lost land A bureaucratic mix-up relocates the parcel A farmer from Mati searches for his lost land A field “moves” from Mati to Mirditë A bureaucratic mix-up relocates the parcel MAT — A somewhat strange incident has been troubling a highlander, Përrgj Progç Gega from the village of Skuraj in the Mati district, for a long time — he has been knocking on the doors of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Prime Minister’s Office to complain. The oddity is not related to the complaint procedure (since that is everyone’s right), but to the very content of the complaint. Gega has addressed the state to say that his plot of land has been moved. From the Mati district it has been transferred to the Mirditë district. The whole fault — as the Mati resident sets out in his complaint — lies with the Central Land Allocation Commission, which has unjustly transferred his hectares to be administered by the Mirditë district. And this “migration” of land has brought double consequences in both districts, the loser and the winner. While the Mati man wanders endlessly through the noise, having been left without land, there is a Mirditë resident who enjoys property newly granted by the reform. The bad thing is that the problem may not be limited to the sphere of the divisions but may go beyond their borders, taking the form of a conflict between two claimants. And such conflicts — in the case of the “gift” too, tragically — have not been few of late.

Starting tomorrow everyone will wake up earlier Tonight, as Sunday begins, we will all sleep one hour less. At 3 a.m. the hands of the clock will make a quick move forward by 60 minutes, thus marking 4 o’clock. The change of time — which is done at the same time in all European countries — will also be carried out in Albania. Through this action, the day will now begin to take time away from the night, making the hours of sunlight over the land even longer. This schedule will continue to apply for several months, until the end of September, when the clock hands — with the approach of the winter season — will once again move one step back.

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Prequalification for construction contracts Object: WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM FOR THE TOWN OF DIVJAKË AND THE SURROUNDING VILLAGES. PATMOS RY. Finnish, all Albanian construction companies to complete the prequalification questionnaire for the construction of the above-mentioned project. The project includes two separate contracts: 1. Construction of water-supply lines, about 31.5 km, with plastic pipes. 2. Construction of two pumping stations and two reservoirs, 150 and 750 cubic meters, including electrical lines. PATMOS RY will provide the pipelines and equipment, while the Company will provide the construction materials and carry out the construction. Companies may take on one of the contracts or both contracts together. The questionnaire can be collected and submitted completed by 2.4.1994, at one of the following addresses: HUK-PROJEKT Rruga Nikolla Lena no. 10 Tirana, tel.: 333 33 Lushnje District Council, Municipal Section For PATMOS RY - HUK-PROJEKT