INTERVIEW / Arbnori speaks after the response to Klepsh “Very favorable for the European Parliament Resolution.” The inaccuracies of the two amendments inspired by the left-wing parliament INTERVIEW / Arbnori speaks after the response to Klepsh “The Mistakes of Alavamos” “Very favorable for the European Parliament Resolution.” The inaccuracies of the two amendments inspired by the left-wing parliament EDMOND LACI TIRANË — “For us the resolution is very favorable, for the positive considerations about Albania, for the grief, for membership in the Council of Europe.” Pjetër Arbnori, Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, for the first time in Gazeta Shqiptare gives his assessment of the European Parliament Resolution, approved a few days ago, while he has just sent a letter about the Resolution to Egon Klepsh, President of the European Parliament. “The two additional amendments to this Resolution are the result of disinformation, which in practice serves two tactics — Arbnori tells Gazeta Shqiptare — destabilization inside the country and disinformation in Europe.” At the beginning of this month the European Parliament had approved an important Resolution for Albania. What caused hypotheses and fierce polemics in the press were two additional amendments referring to the Nano opposition. In fact, for many days the opposition had publicly demanded an answer from the Albanian authorities on this issue. “Mr. Klepsh addressed me and I replied to him,” explains Arbnori, who in this letter clarified to President Klepsh several “inaccuracies” in these two amendments. “They were inspired by Mr. Alavamos — the Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Pjetër Arbnori, tells Gazeta Shqiptare — who even last time did the same thing: a poor old woman who had died of myocardial infarction, and whom even her own newspaper had described as being killed by the Police.” These deeds, according to Arbnori, are commonplace, even inspired by the left in its natural actions, a tactic for a war of nerves. “The PS Parliamentary Group asked me for a meeting — Arbnori continues — and I replied that this meeting can take place on 22 February.” In the letter addressed to President Klepsh, Arbnori also clarified the inaccuracies in the two amendments — which, as he writes, run counter to the truth: the first refers to the results of the local elections held in Albania in July 1992 and included in November. As for his limit in writing, Arbnori — until the Supreme Court, and not the District Court, ruled the annulment, Parliament and even the President could not interfere with the division of the Court.” According to him, while the newspapers speak of the language of dictatorship, his Albanian politicians are chilled by the knots in Albania, see and hear reality for themselves. “There are countries where that was the time when foreigners commanded them to go see a museum, the statue of Skanderbeg in Krujë or even the ‘Stalin’ Textile Combine,” says Arbnori. Considering this European Parliament Resolution to be very favorable — despite the two additional amendments — Arbnori states: “I do not want to say that everything in Albania went splendidly; we have our grievances and our bad sides — he concludes — sometimes maybe we speak more about the good, but because others speak more about it and about things that do not exist.” Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly Arbnori

Counterfeit lek banknotes: checks begin in Tirana SARANDË — Counterfeit money is sweeping through southern Albania. These days, following various operations by public order officers, large quantities of counterfeit banknotes have been seized. According to the first findings, the forged notes are of the 1,000 lek denomination. Thus, there were nearly 4 million — 1,000-lek banknotes — seized in the Saranda currency market. Public order officers found this quantity with the money changer at the moment he was exchanging it into Greek drachmas. A surprise inspection was also carried out by police in the currency market in Tirana. For several minutes in a row — around 10 in the morning — money changers were checked to verify the banknotes they had in their possession. Forgery and circulation of 1,000-lek banknotes had become a growing concern for days. It is believed that there is an organized network that has distributed them mainly in the southern areas of the country. However, the quantities placed on the market and their origin are still not known with certainty.

Italian Serie A championship Inter-Napoli, 0-0. Ruben Sosa becomes a double star in Napoli’s penalty area with Fabio Cannavaro Results of the other matches on page 4 Results of the Albanian Championship on page 3 History of the World Championship on page 5

THE AMERICANS WILL BUILD AN EMERGENCY AIRFIELD IN PESHKOPI — An emergency airfield will be built in Peshkopi by the American Christian Air Service Mission. According to the contract signed by the representatives of the District Council, the Americans will invest in the construction of the airfield and will carry out transport services with their aircraft. A plot of land has been made available for this airfield. A JAZZ CONCERT BY A FRENCH GUITARIST IN TIRANA — It was the French guitarist Kristian Eskud, who gave a jazz concert at the “17 Nëntori” cinema as part of Tirana’s cultural events. Eskude came to Albania on behalf of a French company and gave a concert in Eastern Europe with the “Trio Cigane,” which also includes two other artists. ALARM OVER DAMAGE TO MUSEUM VALUES IN THE CITY OF BERAT — Once again there is alarm over damaged paintings and museum artifacts in the city of Berat. This time the concern comes from a group of intellectuals and cultural specialists from this city, on the walls of the old Castle. According to them, if this situation continues in this way, Berat risks being left without a museum. ENGLISH INTEREST IN SUPPORTING THE SMALL INDUSTRIES OF KODRËS — Special interest from representatives of England in supporting the economic development of the city of Shkodrës. This interest — expressed during a meeting between the English ambassador in Rome and the mayor of Shkodër — was accompanied by a discussion on helping to find markets for the sale of traditional craft products.

Elbasan, request from Slovenia ELBASAN — Pepsi-Cola is also knocking on Albania’s door. After Coca-Cola, it is its sister company that wants to take a concrete step toward carrying out a project. This time the turn has not gone to Tirana but to Elbasan. Its representatives — a Slovenian firm that has obtained the patent for beverages not only for Pepsi-Cola but also for other international brands — are working to carry out this project. The Slovenian company, “Radesna Shten-Tehter,” has proposed an investment of 1.4 million dollars in the city’s beverage factory, where Pepsi-Cola is expected and other non-alcoholic varieties are produced. According to calculations made by economists, the figures point to a very large annual profit that could repay the investment in a short time. But it is once again Albanian bureaucracy that is blocking and endangering the possibility of this investment being made. “Radesna Shtenler — which has planned this investment and has received credit from the Slovenian government — is asking the Albanian government to finance the Albanian bank, which in turn should provide this financing to the Slovenian bank. It wants the Albanian bank to have a role of this kind, one that would be controlled by the Bank of Albania. So far we have not received any positive answer,” says Mihael Koji, director of the business office in this country, for Gazeta Shqiptare. “This major investment — and there is no doubt that the District Council in Elbasan understands that any loss in such a project, on the Slovenian side, January 1994 was set as the final deadline for solving this problem.” Me. Kl.

KUKËS — The situation created by the bad weather in Kukës and many other districts of Albania is moving toward normalization. Snowfall and temperatures have now started to drop — the national roads are functioning fully. Nevertheless, workers from the maintenance enterprises remain on constant alert. In some places, connections and product deliveries remain blocked and difficult. The situation in the district of Korçë is also moving toward normalization, where the cold and snow — in addition to blocking the roads that connect it with other cities — had also caused interruptions in electricity supply.

SHKODER / Ill, but they won’t keep her in Italy anymore The absurd story of a woman SHKODER / Ill, but they won’t keep her in Italy anymore Without a visa, she risks her life The absurd story of a woman SHKODER — This is the story of murderous bureaucracy. It is the story of a woman from Shkodra, Bujare Mema, 27 years old, married, with two children, who risks dying because under Italian law she is an illegal immigrant, and therefore must suffer the consequences. The appeal was made by the director of Galtana Hospital in the province of Lecce, Prof. Piero Grima, who received her in his ward confirming the same diagnosis as the doctors in Tirana: “Aggressive chronic hepatitis,” a disease that can easily lead to cirrhosis. In many cases, to understand, a [illegible] of Dr. Grima declares to Gazeta Shqiptare: “We can cure her with medicine, but she would have to stay in Italy for a long time, perhaps twelve months. This cannot be done because she is an illegal immigrant. We do not know how to behave...” Here is blind bureaucracy. The doctors in Tirana have helped Bujare Mema and she can only go to Italy. The explanation is called “interferon,” a medicine that costs 100,000 lire per vial. Three vials are needed a week, for at least [unclear] months. For the new pension, Italy is the income. “What can be done? It is well known: in Albania, for years one must wait a very long time and a sick woman cannot keep going back and forth on the road to the embassy. So Mema gathers her savings and travels as an illegal immigrant. She has been in Galtana hospital for 10 days, but now the doctors must sign the hospital papers and the police take her into the city to send her back to her homeland. Bureaucracy does not know what to do to save her. And the Italian diplomat? For the moment, silent. (e. bo.)

An Albanian girl denounces 6 compatriots SAN BENEDETTO DEL TRONTO — Liberated, the 15-year-old Albanian ends up in hospital after being kidnapped by a young woman while she was leaving a nightclub in a city in central Italy. Forced to live as a slave, ruined and humiliated because she refused to become a prostitute, the carabinieri found her tied up and locked in an apartment in San Benedetto del Tronto (in the province of Ascoli, where she lived with a [illegible]), returned to the property and hands, while two [?] have been detained by the police. The girl is now hospitalized in the surgery ward of San Benedetto hospital. She suffered violent blows to the ribs, as well as damage to the spleen and liver. The arrest also concerns the suspected Bujar Bezhdani and Armand Kodheli, 27 years old, Dritan Idrishaj, 28, Erjon Ahmeti, 31 years old, but now there was a false passport, Bano[?], a twenty-two-year-old person. After a personal search, the carabinieri seized ropes and iron bars, which had apparently been used to beat the minor and perhaps other victims who refused to obey them and to force her back into prostitution.

THE JUMBO AIRLINER IS DIRECTED BY 50 BARE-FOOTED PEOPLE, THEN THREE PILOTS ARE FIRED — Five pilots who operate from the cockpit in their bare feet, high above the Adriatic, the three pilots of British Airways 246 were dismissed after arriving from Buenos Aires to London and were questioned in a German [unclear]. The pilots, who had removed their uniforms because of the heat, had not realized that there were also two female stewardesses on board, who immediately reported them. GAZA STRIP, 19 COLLABORATIONISTS KILLED IN 20 DAYS — Nineteen Palestinians suspected of collaboration with Israel were killed in the Gaza Strip by their fellow countrymen in the latest phase. The news was announced by Israeli security officials, according to whom on Sunday there was a series of [unclear]. LONDON AIRPORT, SECURITY CHECKPOINTS ARE STILL SLOW DESPITE THE SEARCH — Fifteen years after the bomb on board a Pan Am aircraft that caused the Lockerbie tragedy with 270 deaths, security services at London’s largest airport are still weak. Special agents from the British Ministry of Transport finally completed their checks, and an explosive device similar to the one used by terrorists who in 1988 blew up an American flight over the skies of Scotland was discovered at London’s Heathrow airport.

A foreign witness recalls the day the statue fell On the 20 February anniversary ON PAGE 2 Pippo Baudo greets Albanians from Sanremo The Festival host speaks ON PAGE 2

THE OIL THAT PROTECTS, CLEANS AND BOOSTS YOUR ENGINE api, with its 60 years of presence in the Italian and international market with a full range of petroleum products, communicates and supports, through its affiliated company, iap, the Italian fuel company, by providing its customers with lubricants for vehicles, industry and agriculture. CONTACT: DIRECT SALES TO CONSUMERS: iap - Rruga e Barrikadave (behind the second tower) - TIRANE LIBRA-ALBANIA Rrashbull - Mulliri i Bullgarit Tel./Fax 042-24102 ORDERS: iap - Rruga “Vaso Pasha” 17 - TIRANE Tel./Fax 042-27820 WAREHOUSES: iap - Central Trade Warehouse - TIRANE LIBRA - ALBANIA Rrashbull - Mulliri i Bullgarit Tel./Fax 042-24102 iap, NEAR ITS SALES POINTS, WILL PROVIDE ANY KIND OF TECHNICAL ADVICE NEEDED FOR THE BEST POSSIBLE USE OF THE API PRODUCT RANGE THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCTS IS GUARANTEED ONLY FOR GOODS THAT ARE PACKAGED, SEALED AND PURCHASED DIRECTLY AT THE ABOVE ADDRESSES.