Optimism grows, but alarm reaches Peshkopi First discharges from hospitals ARMAND MERO TIRANA — Suspected cholera cases have reached Peshkopi too. On Sunday morning, three people were admitted urgently to the hospital in the small northern town. The signs that alarmed all the medical staff were persistent diarrhea. All three were immediately isolated and the hospital placed on emergency footing. Doctors and nurses were equipped with masks and gloves, and someone stood at the ward entrance to prevent outsiders from entering. The specialist doctors are not yet speaking of cholera. “We have sent the tests to Tirana and are awaiting the results,” said infectious-disease specialist Hajro Muça. The suspected cholera cases are made more concerning by the source of infection among the three patients. On Saturday, all three—a 30-year-old woman, a 17-year-old girl and a 70-year-old man—had attended the same wedding as a 25-year-old villager [?], who had been admitted to Peshkopi hospital a week earlier with the same symptoms. He had been admitted immediately after returning from Librazhd, but his symptoms had been considered a case of poisoning. The shadow of cholera has also caused concern in Burrel. For several days, a person showing cholera symptoms has been held in quarantine there. Although the laboratory results have not yet arrived, doctors are not ruling out the possibility of a simple gastrointestinal complication. Meanwhile, good news and minor alarms are also coming from the areas already declared affected by cholera. In Tirana, up to Sunday, apart from the 4 confirmed cases, no one else had tested positive for the vibrio. Nevertheless, this has not prevented the health authorities from intensifying the many hygiene and sanitation measures in the capital. On Saturday alone, inspections by the Directorate of Hygiene led to the closure of 14 establishments, one carbonated-water production plant and another alcoholic-beverage plant for failure to meet sanitary requirements. “We will continue our inspections,” Kujtim Zazo, director of the Directorate, told Gazeta Shqiptare, “and since Sunday we have also been working with the police.” Criticism of hygiene in the capital and the Municipality’s responsibility has also come from the Minister of Civil [?]. “It does not seem normal to me that Tirana, which is becoming a European-level metropolitan city, has only two public toilets.” The situation is calm in the hospitals of Kuçovë and Berat. Although new patients were admitted on Sunday, most of the sick have now been discharged. Drenovica appears to remain a problem: 11 more people ended up in the beds of the [?] wards on Sunday. The picture is much the same in Librazhd. There, the number of patients admitted has risen to over 60, but none is in serious condition, and for most of them the tests have ruled out the possibility of cholera.

They will be destroyed TIRANA — The issue of expired medicines in state pharmacies, as well as their sale without a licence, has reappeared on the scene. This time, the concern has been raised by the General Directorate of Financial Police. Information and complaints from a newspaper [?]—and from this police force’s offices in the districts—have so far led to the seizure of medicines worth 176,000 lekë that had passed their expiry dates, as well as an amount worth 820,000 lekë sold without a licence. This has led specialists to believe that the phenomenon extends throughout the country. In a letter, the General Directorate of Financial Police has requested the cooperation of the Ministry of Health in carrying out an inventory of medicines in all the pharmacies of the Republic, as well as those held by the Tirana Enterprise. It has also requested cooperation to ensure the immediate destruction, with complete documentation, of all stocks of medicines found to have expired. According to the head of the inspection section at the General Directorate of Financial Police, the phenomenon is considered not only illegal trade but also highly dangerous to consumers’ health. (An. Ste.)

SPORT But Parma are the ones leading the Serie A table With two goals in Milan Gullit gives his team the victory Ruud Gullit, Milan’s champion

PEZA CONFERENCE COMMEMORATED — A commemorative rally was held in the village of Pezë, near Tirana, to mark two of the most important events of the National Liberation War: the Peza Conference and the creation of the 22nd Partisan Brigade. Local authorities from the district and veterans, witnesses to those years, took part in the ceremony. One of the most important figures of the Anti-Fascist Front, now 82 years old, Hysen Dishnica, greeted those present. “Even today I hold the same views,” Dishnica said. “I support the unity achieved at Pezë on 16 September 1942, without religious distinction, in the struggle against fascism. With the pledge we made at Pezë, we honoured not only Pezë but all of Albania. Had that pledge not been broken at Mukje a year later, the fate and character of Albania today would be different.” Former members, representatives of the local authorities and representatives of the Ministry of Defence also addressed the gathering. A FAMILY INJURED IN AN ACCIDENT IN SHIJAK — A family travelling in a Fiat towards Shkodër on Saturday afternoon was seriously injured. Near the village of Kosha in Shijak, the Fiat collided with a minibus bearing Tirana plates. The powerful collision between the two vehicles resulted in one person being killed: Bashkim Shema, 38. His 33-year-old wife and their two daughters, aged 16 and 6, were injured. The Fiat’s driver was also injured. All the injured were rushed to Durrës hospital. The details of this tragic accident, which for several hours had left five people [?] and ended in a fatality, have not yet been fully clarified.

— A group of 14 Albanians who had attempted to reach Italy illegally was stopped by the Carabinieri at the port of Otranto as they disembarked from the ferry “Annamaria Lauro”, arriving from Vlora. The undocumented migrants were repatriated on the other ferry, “Solidor 2”, which makes the journey from Otranto to Vlora. BOSNIA: UN THREATENS AIR STRIKES AGAINST THE WARRING SIDES IN SARAJEVO — The commander of UN forces in Bosnia, Michael Rose, has urged the Bosnian Serbs and Muslims to end the fighting in Sarajevo, otherwise there will be a response that could include NATO air strikes. According to some UN sources, such a response to the two combatants is possible. Rose threatened “appropriate measures,” a spokesperson said, and specified that this could involve action by NATO aircraft. According to initial information from anonymous UN sources, it was the Bosnian army that had opened hostilities in the northern area of the capital. LONDON, TWELVE-YEAR-OLD IN LOVE DRIVES 120 KM — A lovestruck twelve-year-old, who had taken his father’s car to go to the girl of his dreams, whom he had met during that summer’s holiday, made a short journey [?] to a school station in the capital. This was confirmed by British police. The boy was 120 km from his home in Wakefield (northern England), trying to reach a railway station in York, when he lost control of the vehicle and ended up in a ditch. The police, who arrived at the scene, were astonished by the sight of the very young driver, who had made it close to the car [?].

Elbasan Two children burned by milk ELBASAN — It is astonishing how the resale of milk has seriously endangered the lives of two children. But it was not any kind of infection: it was only the high temperature of the boiling milk and the parents’ carelessness that sent both minors to hospital, one after the other. The first victim of the hot pot was a one-and-a-half-year-old child from the village of Leftan. Only the speed with which the child was taken to hospital saved them from the clutches of death. Two days later, a two-year-old from Çërrik, scalded by a wave of boiling milk, was at risk of losing his life. The doctors still have not been able to guarantee the child’s recovery, and he continues to be kept in the resuscitation ward at Elbasan hospital. Me. Ki.

Berisha also attends GJIROKASTËR — During a week filled with numerous events, the people of Gjirokastër celebrated the 50th anniversary of their city’s liberation from the Nazi-Fascist occupiers during World War II. President Berisha also attended the events on the final day of the celebration. The festive events began with the inauguration of the “Libri ’94” and visual arts exhibitions. In the following days, a scientific session was held on the theme “Gjirokastër in History,” as well as a literary evening, which highlighted the powerful influence of the literary city “The City and Kadareja.” On Sunday, which was also the last day of the festivities, President Berisha was among those present with the people of Gjirokastër. Also present were Minister of Defense Safet Zhulali, Minister of Public Order Agron Musaraj, Minister of Education Xhezair Teliti, Minister of Local Government Rexhep Uka, as well as veterans, representatives of political forces, religious committees, and other organizations. To the sounds of the national anthem and the thunder of cannon salvos, Berisha laid a wreath and paid his respects at the district’s martyrs’ cemetery. He later met with several families of martyrs in Gjirokastër, Vanistër in Dropull, and Libohovë. A jubilee meeting, followed by a cheerful concert, brought the festivities to a close. Ra. Ko.

KAVAJË — Identifying the body of a villager found beside a highway proved extremely difficult; people who did not know him found him and took him to Kavajë hospital. Still unidentified, the body was transferred to the morgue in Durrës and then to the one in Tirana. It was only the inquiries of his relatives that made identification possible: Halil Muça, from the village of Spille. Muça, 43, had gone by bicycle to the market in Kavajë. On his way back — on the road to Luz i Vogël — he was hit from behind by a minibus with Shkodër license plates. The impact of the vehicle, whose driver sped away, threw him and his bicycle to the ground, causing his tragic death. (Q. C.)

[Photo: delegates in Haiti] Haitians mobilized against the US WASHINGTON — Something is moving in Haiti, where the American delegation sent by former President Jimmy Carter is holding talks with the military junta. According to the best-known American broadcaster, General Raul Cedras left the negotiating table to consult with President Emile Jonassaint, and returned fifteen minutes later. In Washington, White House sources say that the news is somewhat positive and that an agreement is considered possible. After the talks, the American delegation in Haiti and the head of the military junta went to the presidential palace to consult with the de facto President Emile Jonassaint. In Washington, it is thought that Jonassaint’s approval of an agreement will be awaited.

Cinema Moana Pozzi dies of a tumor ROME — Actress Moana Pozzi died in a hospital in Lyon, France. One of the stars of Italian pornography, Pozzi had been admitted as an emergency case, and it appears that a tumor finally claimed her life. Moana Pozzi was born in Genova and began her career at Riccardo Schicchi’s movement club. News of her death was released by her family 48 hours later, after they had [unclear] at one of the actress’s last hospitals. The body has been sent. “Moana was very private about her personal life, and even those close to her knew nothing about her illness until the very end.” Kushë, Mara Keplero, owner of Diva Futura and a friend of Riccardo Schicchi and his group, comment on the actress’s sudden disappearance.

Victim: a 17-year-old Albanian girl SAN BENEDETTO DEL TRONTO — Sex slaves. This is what Albanian girls brought to Italy can now be called: they are promised permanent accommodation — especially by their fellow countrymen — and are then thrust into the street prostitution market. The sad story of one of them was uncovered by the Carabinieri of San Benedetto del Tronto. In this area of central Italy — where the prostitution of undocumented migrants is widespread — the Carabinieri rescued from the clutches of a gang, which included two women, a seventeen-year-old girl who had been forced to work as a prostitute. The young woman was found by the Carabinieri in an apartment: her hands were tied behind her back with a trouser belt, and her body bore signs of rape, bruises, and cigarette burns on her intimate parts. In a state of shock, after being forced to endure every kind of violence, including psychological abuse, so that she would agree to “work” on the street as a prostitute, the girl was entrusted to doctors at the hospital in this town. They said she would recover within 20 days, but no one knows when she will manage to forget what she suffered in the prison-apartment. Her torturers (with “baby prostitutes” they earned 15 million lire a week, which they then perhaps sent to Albania by courier) have been arrested: “The gang leader is Pirro Kureta from Kuçova. His drivers are Argon Abazi (22, from Kuçova), Atur Ruçi (19, from Lushnja), Violeta Tenko (26, from Berat), and Ariana Nakuqi (29, from Berat).” The list of crimes they have been charged with is long, including, notably, what is literally written as “reduction to slavery.” But the Carabinieri’s investigation is not over: they are searching for another enslaved girl belonging to the baby-prostitute gang. (F.G.)

Success on the world’s stages for the Albanian ballet dancer Xhokaxhi With the ballet “Giselle,” from Moscow to Hollywood ON PAGE 2 Tirana. “Volare Prize”: the project takes shape On October 8 in “Skënderbej” Square ON PAGE 2