Causes still undetermined. Suspicions also fall on powdered milk Three deaths in three days Causes still undetermined. Suspicions also fall on powdered milk An enigmatic infection strikes Fier's infants Three deaths in three days FIER — Three newborn babies have died at the Fier Maternity Hospital. Over the course of three days — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — frequent diarrhea and vomiting lasting just a few hours were enough for the infants to die in an enigmatic manner. Other little ones were also in serious condition, some of whom appear to have emerged from acute danger. Meanwhile, one infant — on Friday — continued to struggle between life and death. Doctors immediately began medical investigations, and the final test results are expected soon; they will reveal the mysterious “killer” of the children. (at. me. / em. my.) ARMAND MERO FIER — An enigmatic infection has penetrated the Fier maternity hospital. The type of infection and the causes of its spread remain unclear; this phenomenon has cast the shadow of death over the ward of Fier's infants. The only thing stated so far is that the illness affecting this hospital is classified as an intestinal infection that has attacked the little ones, but it has not been possible to determine what it is. Samples for analysis were urgently sent to the Hygiene and Epidemiology Hospital. As of Friday, there was still no definitive answer there either. Microbiologists were still processing the samples collected. The situation has also alarmed the Ministry of Health. On Thursday, a meeting was convened there with specialists to assess the situation in Fier. A few days earlier, a group of experts from Tirana had visited this city's hospital. One of them — a doctor from the capital's Maternity Hospital — continues to stay with his Fier colleagues to identify, together with them, any possible worsening of the situation. Numerous suspicions have also been raised about the milk used for the infants. At this hospital — immediately after birth, the baby is separated from the mother and is not breastfed — substitute products for mother's milk, imported from France, have been used for at least two months. Samples of these products have arrived in Tirana and are awaiting analysis, including bacteriological and toxicological tests. But no final results have yet been issued for them either. Nevertheless, specialists at the Ministry had long been voicing their objections to this practice and the use of this type of milk, as well as to advertisements placed in newspapers and on television. “Such a practice has terribly negative effects on children's health,” says Teodor Todhe, a specialist at the Ministry of Health. “In many countries around the world, advertising and promotional campaigns for breast-milk substitutes are prohibited by law.” For this very reason, in Fier too — given the critical situation that has developed — separating newborns from their mothers was immediately halted. Strict hygiene measures have now been taken throughout the Maternity Hospital, particularly in the newborn ward. All its rooms — on the hospital's first floor — have been disinfected, and meanwhile one of the rooms in this ward has been closed, [?]. While the situation appears somewhat improved and the first rays of hope have appeared, the doctors at the Maternity Hospital continue to regard the situation as an emergency.

Implementation of the program has begun TIRANA — Who will decide to paint the stairwell, which has been peeling for a long time? Who has the right to decide on repairs to defects in the sewage pipes, or the half-exposed electrical wires that have become a public hazard and affect several families in a building? Perhaps the time has now come for such problems, often very complicated for most Albanian families living in apartments, to be resolved through normal procedures. A notice from the Ministry of Construction has announced that implementation has begun of what is called “Co-ownership in Housing.” A study conducted some time ago by specialists from the Directorate of Housing — Antoneta Fona and Engjell Gjoka — explains how these problems will be resolved among neighbors, who are now recognized as owners not only of their privatized apartments but also of the shared parts of the building in which they live: stairwells, pipes, etc. Each owner's obligations and rights concerning the building's jointly owned areas are determined in proportion to the area of the apartment they own. The study prepared by the two specialists says that shared obligations also include the expenses an owner must pay for improving or maintaining the jointly owned areas. According to them, these expenses may even exceed the amount previously paid as rent. But there is no need to worry, the specialists explain. Isn't it more beneficial for owners to have a property that is better maintained, both externally and functionally? Someone might even sell their now-improved home and buy another, more spacious one. The soundness of this reasoning, however, will have to be borne out by time. The study also sets out how residents are to organize themselves to resolve such problems. It seems that “residents' meetings” will return, but this time with a new meaning. They will be called Assemblies of Co-owners and will be the bodies that make important decisions. The assemblies will begin operating 60 days after the completion of privatization and registration of the co-ownership deeds for homes that were part of the municipal housing enterprise's stock. (p.re.)

LAÇ — He was traveling quite calmly on a bus packed with passengers. He was carrying a hand grenade pressed against his body. None of the many passengers suspected that their fellow traveler could “give” them death at any moment. A simple traffic accident would have been enough — the kind that happens every day on Albania's roads, overwhelmed by heavy traffic — to cause one of those bloodbaths that would be remembered for a long time. Fortunately, the tragedy was avoided thanks to the swift intervention of criminal police officers, who managed to neutralize the passenger carrying a “load of fear” at his waist. It happened just outside Milot, near the place locals have come to call “The Monument.” T.N. — that is the name of the person arrested — was traveling on one of the buses serving the Shkodër-Tirana route. He is a resident of the village of Torovicë in the district of Lezhë. The fearsome weapon had a range of 200 meters. It is used by the army and is often called a defensive grenade. Besides the danger of carrying a weapon without a permit, the story also attracted attention because of the reason the unusual traveler was armed. “I have it to protect myself from my wife's relatives,” T.N. later stated during questioning. “Some time ago I abducted my wife, and her relatives want revenge.” It is not yet known how the criminal police got on the trail of the unusual traveler. A few days earlier, colleagues from the team that made the arrest had been rewarded for apprehending a citizen from the Tirana district who was carrying a pistol without a permit. (N.A.)

Burrel Life imprisonment for the young man BURREL — Another person has been sentenced to life imprisonment by an Albanian court. According to reports from the official news agency, the Burrel Court sentenced 21-year-old Ylli Lepur, from the village of Rreth-Baz, to life imprisonment. The list of crimes for which Lepur was sentenced is long: murder for trivial motives, intentional grievous bodily harm to two people, possession of an unlicensed weapon, and extortion to obtain a sum of money by force. This is the first time that a court in Mat has handed down a sentence of this kind.

Reception for the ambassador TIRANA — “Goodbye, Albania.” William Rayerson, United States Ambassador in Tirana — at the reception held on Friday evening on the occasion of his departure from this post — thus bid farewell to the country where he had lived for almost three years. It was only a greeting, not a final farewell. “I will come back,” he said, “but I will come simply as a tourist, as a friend.” The new U.S. ambassador is expected this week. For Rayerson, Albania is the last country where he will serve as a diplomat. After many years of work, he is now retiring, and seems pleased that “The Land of the Eagles” has marked the end of his career, because “dessert is always at the end,” he had said some time earlier to Gazeta Shqiptare. (ar. me.)

Local radio damaged GJIROKASTËR — The torrential rain of recent days has caused more than just flooding. In Gjirokastër, the victim of nature's blind force was the local radio station. A lightning strike on its building put one studio out of commission. It had recently been transferred from Radio-Tirana, and the technicians at Radio-Gjirokastër had hoped that its arrival would improve the quality of their radio signal transmissions. Fortunately, the existing equipment is nearly 30 years old, but now the technicians will once again have to work for some time in difficult conditions in the only operational studio, where programs are prepared and broadcast. (R.K.)

BARI — Elisa Claps, the 17-year-old Italian student who disappeared in Potenza on September 12, may be in Albania. Nicola Sozio, a traffic police officer from Policoro, in the province of Matera, is certain of this. In a television interview, he said that during two trips to Albania, as many as 19 other people in Durrës and Tirana recognized Elisa Claps in photographs he had shown them. According to several witnesses who spoke to the same traffic police officer, the girl is thought to have been seen on a street in Tirana. These circumstances have put the Italian and Albanian police forces on alert.

INSIDE! USA-Iraq: New Signs of War in the Persian Gulf Saddam’s troops just 30 kilometers from the border with Kuwait ON PAGE 2

Reception for the ambassador William Rayerson: “Goodbye Local radio damaged Gjirokastër Who has seen this girl? INSIDE

Lega Nord visits Albania A delegation from “Lega Nord” has made an official visit to Albania. The delegation — made up of senators Pierlu… (part of the name is unclear) Copercini, Massimo Ugolini and Pedrani — was received in separate meetings by President of the Republic Sali Berisha and by the senior office of the Democratic Party, whose headquarters are in Tirana. The topics discussed at the meeting were Italian investment in Albania — where it was said that an important area is Albanian assistance from its market and reforms, to which it sees itself as committed. Assembly of Albania’s 16 blind people The National Conference of the Association of the Blind of Albania held its proceedings. The large meeting analyzed their situation throughout the country. In a press statement issued by the Association’s Chairman, Sitan Tafaj, it says that “serious problems still remain, measures are painful to implement, especially regarding the provision of medicines for this group of blind people, who do not benefit from the laws of their country.” The electoral conference is holding new national elections, while for its part making a commitment to maintain the promise… (unclear). The National Center for the Blind of Albania in an Albania and the Renaissance of Tirana Kavajë, satellite repeater today Today, satellite channel broadcasting will also begin in Kavajë for all the city’s households. The new stations will be distributed across the television channels and will appear on screen. The … (text partly illegible)