Four members of the Greek minority and three Greeks arrested Police: “We dismantled a group of the Front for the Liberation of Vorioepir” The attackers were returning from Albania after a failed operation TIRANA - Seven terrorists, members of the Front for the Liberation of Northern Epirus (MAVI), were arrested by Greek police on Sunday morning in a town near the border with Albania. The terrorist group, made up of Greek citizens—including two former officers of the Greek army and police—as well as four Greek minorities from Albania, was arrested in the town of Delvinë as it returned from the Albanian border, following an unsuccessful attempt to carry out an attack. In its two cars, police found a quantity of automatic weapons as well as paramilitary equipment. The Albania-Greece suspects—who have been visibly at odds in recent weeks—have thus avoided an attack that might once again have put them at risk. In April last year, MAVI had claimed responsibility for a massacre carried out by a group of terrorists at a military unit in the village of Peshkëpi—in southern Albania—where two Albanian conscripts were killed. The incident immediately strained diplomatic relations between the two neighboring Balkan states. Greece continued to block aid of 15 million ECU granted by the European Community for the balance of payments of the Albanian state. Thousands of Albanian economic refugees were forcibly driven from their jobs in Greece, and a Greek aircraft violated Albanian airspace in the south of the country, dropping leaflets calling for the overthrow of the Albanian government. On the other side of the border, five members of the Greek minority were brought before Albanian justice, accused of being agents working for the Greek secret service. And just as these difficulties had been overcome, the hand of the MAVI organization of Greek extremists—which has declared the union of southern Albania with Greece to be its platform—has appeared again. But this time it is the Greek police themselves who have dealt it a devastating blow. Immediately after the terrorist group’s arrest, searches were also conducted in 10 apartments in Athens, where Greek extremist literature was found along with a quantity of weapons. Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papulias—who made a successful visit to Albania last week—told reporters that the arrests “may have prevented an incident.” But the Greek police authorities went further. They stated that the arrest of the terrorists had prevented a cross-border attack, while the searches carried out in Athens had dismantled a terrorist group of the Front for the Liberation of Northern Epirus.

TIRANA - Anastas Janullatos, head of the Albanian Orthodox Church, can now leave Albania confident that he will not be prevented from returning to carry out his religious mission. Before his departure for medical treatment in Greece, the Albanian authorities also granted him a visa giving him the right to return to his headquarters in Tirana. The move by the Albanian authorities has been interpreted in various circles as a consequence of the improvement, at the political level, in bilateral relations between Albania and Greece. Archbishop Janullatos will travel to Athens in the coming days to receive treatment for a serious eye condition. Until now, the Albanian authorities had denied him any possibility of returning if he left Albania. Under the provisions of a draft constitution—a draft that was not approved in a referendum held last year—no religious leader could operate in Albania without being an Albanian citizen or having been resident for at least 20 years.

Two more points clear FOOTBALL — Report on the matches in the Albanian and Italian leagues Has Sacchi been convinced? Articles and results on pages 4 - 5 - 6 More than 10 Albanian teams in the UEFA zone On page 3 The “quarantine” of “Qemal Stafa” is over On page 3 The protagonists of 29 March are announced On page 3

Berisha has also pardoned former regime officials TIRANA - Reduced prison terms for forty people serving sentences for various crimes. Albanian President Sali Berisha decreed a pardon yesterday, linking it to the approach of 22 March, the third anniversary of the Democratic Party’s coming to power. On the same date in 1992, the Democratic Party—then led by Berisha—won a clear victory in the electoral contest against the other parties. Among those pardoned, it is reported, will be several former senior officials of the old regime, as well as several foreign citizens convicted of various crimes in Albania. News of the pardon decreed by the President was reported last night by official information sources. In only a few words, they reported that Berisha’s pardon had been granted on the basis of his powers under the package of constitutional laws and following proposals from local government bodies, associations and various institutions. The same sources provided the only detail made known yesterday: the pardon for the forty prisoners provides for sentence reductions of between one and seven years. The criteria on which the president based his pardon have not yet been fully confirmed. It is understood that one of them was the review of cases in which former political prisoners or people persecuted by the regime had been imprisoned again for ordinary crimes. The President’s previous pardon had been issued on the eve of New Year 1995. At that time, among those whose sentences were reduced was one of the five “Omonia” members accused of espionage. Meanwhile, in Italy, just as the presidential pardon has been decreed in Albania, the Radical Party is planning a mass march against the death penalty. Local government officials from Albania are also expected to take part. Party sources have said they have confirmed the participation of the mayors of Durrës and Gjirokastër, who apparently have spoken out against capital punishment. In the march, which will begin after the proceedings of the Radical Party Congress, the Albanian mayors will join a large number of their counterparts from across Europe. One of their Albanian colleagues, the mayor of Korçë—according to the same sources—has declined to participate because he himself supports the existence of the ultimate penalty. f.b.

In Italy, a man from Vlora found with 600 grams of drugs VLORE - He had barely shaken off the damp smell of the Italian beach when the Finance Guard snapped handcuffs onto his wrists. A man from Vlora, Isa Hasanaj, 36, from Vlora, was stopped on Friday together with another Bosnian and an Italian. Suspicions about him are very strong. According to the Lecces Finance Guard, he had transported 600 kilograms of brown sugar-type heroin from Albania to Italy. Hasanaj had just arrived in Italy as an ordinary clandestine migrant on one of the speedboats that usually make the daily crossing. All three were stopped while under surveillance. The Italian Alberto Coppolany’s Lancia Dedra was in Lecces. The Finance Guard became suspicious of the car in which the Italian, the Albanian and the Bosnian were travelling. During a search of the car, the Italian police discovered a plastic bag containing heroin, hidden in the bodywork. It was 600 grams of heroin, 70 percent pure. According to the Italian investigators, this seized quantity—the largest ever found on an Albanian in Italy—is proof of what they have been saying for some time: the traffic in clandestine migrants from Albania has for some time also been exploited by criminal organizations for drug trafficking. th.

A little girl TIRANA - She tried to hide while playing hide-and-seek with her friends, but fell into the elevator shaft. This was the tragic fate of an 11-year-old girl from Tirana—she lived in the nine-storey apartment blocks located in the heart of the capital—which led to her inevitable death. The tragic incident happened on Thursday. The 11-year-old was playing with her peers. As she tried to hide, she fell into the elevator space. The elevator had not been working for a year, and, in the darkness of the stairwell, she began to make her way inside it. The little girl fell from the sixth floor, sustaining serious injuries. She remained in a coma for four days but could not hold on any longer.

The minister reviews his work TIRANA - Albania’s accession to NATO has been the principal goal of all the political activity pursued by the democratic government in the field of Defence. All this has been in keeping with the country’s economic conditions and taking into account the situation in the Balkans, as well as our traditional friends and enemies. This was what Defence Minister Safet Zhulali emphasized at the press conference he held yesterday in one of the ministry’s halls. Albania currently has the USA, Great Britain and Turkey as its main allies in Defence. Zhulali has described his political contacts with foreign counterparts as extremely important for raising the relations between the Albanian army and those of other countries to a higher level. By the end of last year, Albania had been visited by 45 defence ministers, chiefs of staff and senior officials from various states. To date, 12 memoranda and cooperation agreements in the field of defence have been signed with them. “All this that we are doing with similar armies is an event involving the modern armies of the world,” Minister Zhulali emphasized.

BERAT - Competition between two small vendors in Sheqëz, Berat, degenerated into an armed conflict. - Competition between two small vendors in Sheqëz, Berat, degenerated into an armed conflict. Two shots fired from Shkelqim Toska’s gun sent his competitors in the trade, Gazmend and Gëzim Dako, both 22 years old, to hospital on Thursday with serious facial injuries. But that was not the only development in this conflict. The criminalistics team discovered metal fragments from a special projectile. Then, a search conducted by the police uncovered a single-barrel hunting gun, handcrafted, belonging to Toska. It was with this “made in Albania” rifle that he had wanted to defend his fruit-trade monopoly. In addition to confiscating the weapon, the police placed Toska under arrest, while the injured men continue to receive treatment in hospital. Ha.Ta.

The Socialists: “Early elections are needed” TIRANA - The Socialists are determined to make early elections their own objective. Yesterday the General Steering Committee met in Tirana—more than 100 people from all over Albania—together with members of the SP parliamentary group. “How should we respond to the strategy of dividing the SP, which our political opponents have been pursuing for some time; how should we prepare to take power, always considering new parliamentary elections to be very near; how can we make our propaganda more effective while defending the justice of our alternatives?” According to SP spokesman and MP Bashkim Zeneli, these were some of the issues discussed at yesterday’s important meeting, as part of a wide-ranging analysis of the current political situation. The Steering Committee also prepared a statement to be published in the party press.

Folklore Festival from September 20–25 at Berat Castle On page 2 Korçë’s Mësonjtorja: really on March 7? On page 2 Konica bust beside the Frashëri brothers On page 2

Kavajë, the Arbëreshë commemorated Father Antonio Belushi, one of Italy’s most distinguished representatives, presented his book on the Arbëreshë of Greece in Kavajë in recent days. Father Belushi visited a secondary school to learn about the young people’s intellectual education. The well-known Arbëresh also contributed money to Caritas to establish a modern clinic in Kavajë. Burrel, at the three-day event they say “no” to AIDS Unable to cure it, let us do everything possible to prevent it. This was the message delivered by the Anti-AIDS Committee, which, with the support of the Islamic Relief Organization, organized a seminar in Burrel on protection against AIDS. Durrës, 62 years of vocational schooling The 62nd anniversary of the city’s vocational school was celebrated in Durrës. It is a vocational school that has produced many distinguished figures. The celebration, to which former teachers and students of the school were invited, was organized at the Aleksandër Moisiu Theatre by the Durrësi association.