“First let the land be returned to the former owners” TIRANA - Just one day was enough to ignite fierce controversy over the draft law on the purchase and sale of agricultural land, provisionally approved by the Government on Monday. Most parliamentary parties reacted sharply yesterday. For the first time, the governing party, PD, and the Socialist opposition have found themselves facing criticism from the right. Both had previously expressed support for the status quo established by implementation of the law approved back in the time of Ramiz Alia. The criticism has focused not only on the land issue, on which all Albanian political forces now seem to agree in principle, but also on the long-standing problem of land distribution. “First let the land be returned to the former owners, and only then let its sale and purchase begin,” the right has demanded, but criticism has also come from more moderate forces: PSD and AD. The Republicans were the first to react. In a prominent place and in large letters, their newspaper published the party’s main statement in yesterday’s issue. “One of the most unjust acts by the current authorities against owners and a flagrant violation of human rights”: this is how the content of the law was described in PR’s fierce statement. PR has called on its members and supporters to mobilize for a petition campaign opposing the law, which has not yet been approved. “It is an anti-communist law — that is how they have described it in connection with the Socialist Party’s properties,” the commentary says — “let today’s government try to cover up the harm caused by the communist land-distribution law, which was not their fault; not only that, but its implementation will also affect the national question, since the issue of exclusion will also arise from the distribution of land.” The Republicans have now also been joined by other voices from the right. An item attracting considerable attention, printed in large letters in their newspaper yesterday, was the party’s main statement. “One of the most unjust acts by the current authorities against owners and a flagrant violation of human rights”: this is how the content of the law was described in PR’s fierce statement. PR has called on its members and supporters to mobilize for a petition campaign opposing the law, which has not yet been approved.

“First let the land be returned to the former owners” They are now trying harder and more persistently to pursue reforms. The only solution is to repeal the land law; whoever acquired land on the basis of this unjust law should not have the right to sell it.” Although parliamentarians agree on the article concerning the sale of land, the Social Democrats have spoken out against the current draft. The chairman of PSK, Skender Gjinushi, has also expressed his reservations. “I think approval of this law is premature,” Gjinushi said yesterday. “Although parliament agrees on the sale and purchase of land, its history must nevertheless be taken into account; in other words, some practical compromise must be considered regarding former properties taken from state land. Secondly, the old boundaries should be recognized in traditional areas with little land. Without this correction, the sale and purchase of land could cause social problems in the countryside. Moreover, in my view, the buyer’s rights should come after the owner’s.” The Democratic Alliance has also opposed the way the law was drafted. Prof. Zogaj, one of its initiators, reacted yesterday in a statement, repeatedly emphasizing all the principles and guarantees of consensus on this issue: “We have already declared ourselves unequivocally in favor of applying this law, but the way it has been drafted sounds to me like a provocation against peace. For an issue of this importance, consensus among the political forces should have been reached first. Only in this way would the law accommodate all the interests of Albanians; that is precisely why we proposed the necessary changes and amendments during our initial contacts with the other parties.” Fatos Baxhaku

History TIRANA - “Should the land be returned to the former owners or not?” Albanian society has been debating this issue for a long time. “Returning properties that once existed is practically impossible,” say PD and PS, the two largest political forces in parliament. “Returning land to its lawful owners is a fundamental human right,” insists the right. Perhaps statistics alone can help us understand a little more about the tangled web of arguments with which the two sides attack one another. It all began with the Agrarian Reform of 1946. Before it, the large landowners — the seven so-called “great households” — accounted for only 0.006 percent of all Albanian families at the time. Together, the seven owned 14,554 hectares, or only 3.070 percent of the agricultural land of that period. Some owned less and some more, but on average each had 2,079 hectares. Here is how some well-known families’ holdings were distributed: Veliazi, 3,700 hectares; Bajraktari, 2,071; Fiqiri, 639; Nuredin Vlora, 2,900; Resuli, 1,541. Opposite them, throughout the country, were 6,716 village landholders, comprising 21,544 families, or 13.8 percent of families, and owning 6,047 hectares; while 128,961 families, or 63.8 percent of families, had little land. This last category owned 237,666 hectares, or 60.44 percent of the total area. On average, each family in this group had 1.8 hectares of land. Families considered well-off at the time — owning about 15 hectares on average — numbered 4,713, or 3.034 percent. They owned a total of 23.16 percent of the area. The Agrarian Reform distributed land among 8,714 owners of all levels and categories and partially among 10,641 owners. It benefited 48,667 poor families and 21,544 semi-peasant families, to whom 155,109 hectares were allocated. The state itself received 7,500 hectares at the time.

Massacre among migrants in Florence. 35 Albanian children found enslaved in Milan. And from today, the army is arriving...

TIRANA - The dream of salvation for Albanians has a name: “Italy.” While around 10,000 Albanian troops and 35,000 children brought to Italy from Albania... two devastating reports have arrived from northern Italian cities. In Puglia, an area near Florence, four Albanians from Vlora died in the explosion of a gas canister in an abandoned warehouse where they spent the night. Also yesterday, 35 Albanian children — aged 10 to 17 — were detained by Milan police. Sent out by their parents, they wandered the streets of the Italian city. According to Milan police authorities, this phenomenon is spreading more and more. Along with them, others have been caught and arrested for street theft, as well as for a practically medieval form of exploitation: the “enslavement” of children. The four Albanians — Luan Haxhaxhi, 23, Ardit Racin, 27, Krenar Metaj, 23, and Maksim Koqraj, 27 — died at around 2 a.m. yesterday. All four were in a room of about 20 square metres, part of a warehouse in an abandoned industrial area between the villages. They were in cramped conditions. For some time, this place had become a centre for Albanians. The gas-cylinder explosion was terrible and gave them no chance to escape. They were probably asleep and did not notice the gas leak. During the night, one of them, according to the initial investigation, woke up and lit a torch or a lighter. A spark led to the deadly explosion. While the four Albanians died in Prato, in Milan 35 children from Albania were at the centre of a special police operation. They were all being exploited to beg in the streets of the capital. Sent out from Albania by their parents, the children said in their initial police interviews, they had been entrusted to people who put them in cars and then sent them out to pursue the lucrative business: begging in the open, sometimes selling bottles and other small items, and collecting money. The police handed them over to the people who were acting under an “agreement” with the children’s parents and sending 40 percent of the amount collected to Albania. This phenomenon of modern slavery is spreading more and more. In Milan alone, there are more than 150 young Albanian children, aged 10 to 17, who are exploited by this illegal network. Their number has doubled in just the last two months. They sleep under bridges and in abandoned shacks. All day long, dressed in rags and with their faces blackened, they roam around with their hands outstretched to passers-by. The 35 children detained by police will be returned to Albania. According to Milan police, they were all glad to have been rescued and said that the others, in whose place they had been and who had spent nights there, would now have their own beds. Instead, their parents could return to working the land with their companions.

A feud between two clans: 60 villagers are confined to their homes HAS - This is perhaps the rarest episode verified so far concerning the phenomenon of blood feuds. It is also an appeal from these people, who are asking the country’s president for assistance, specifically to help them escape prolonged confinement, which they consider unjustified. They want a new life, leaving the conflict behind, and for this they need the state’s help, at least through “the granting of loans.” The protagonists — who have unwittingly revealed another tragic aspect of the blood-feud phenomenon — are about 60 villagers from Qarri in the Has district. As a result of a series of incidents between two clans, they are all now confined to their homes. For two and a half years they have continued to breathe only within the narrow confines of their tower houses, while the Rush and Bardhosh family names are caught up in three blood-feud lines. What makes this episode tragic — and particularly unusual in northern Albania — is the fact that blood feuds between clans have not disappeared, despite the intervention of the organized justice system. “The people who committed the crime have been sentenced under the law in force,” write the 60 confined villagers, who now consider themselves innocent. Even their appeal to President Berisha has not escaped the emphasis on the Kanun: “A solution must be found for the people among these 60 who are not guilty,” the confined villagers plead. It seems endless: the 60 Albanians, prisoners in their own homes, make a heartbreaking appeal. They are asking to be moved away from their ancestral tower houses and lands. For all their bravery and the other traditions of their art, they have not “forgotten” to uphold the blood feud... The phenomenon has now spread. And all of them, confined for the first time, realize that they may be forced to leave their homes and the houses where they were born, perhaps in large numbers. It is an endless anguish, as are the possible solutions for escaping these deaths foretold. This time the solution proposed by the protagonists themselves is truly moving, even if very civil: “President, help us build a life somewhere far from the conflict.”

TIRANA - They risked their lives by sheltering Jewish families, and now — as the 50th anniversary of Victory over Nazism is being commemorated around the world — Israel has honored them with its highest award for foreign citizens. These Albanian heroes received the distinguished award for their significant contribution to helping Jews, who were constantly threatened by Nazi aggressors. Here are the names of those honored at yesterday’s ceremony: Bahrije Boinici, Hasan Hoti, Nora Imami, and Zyra Kasapi. The awards were presented to the Albanians by Miriam Ziv, Counsellor at the Israeli Embassy in Rome. A view of yesterday’s ceremony (photo: REUTERS)

The screen is “taken over” by films this afternoon TIRANA - It can rightly be called a “festival of young directors.” It is the only national event — aimed at young directors — who stand alongside other directors behind the cameras, presenting works in this format and competing for the awards of Albanian cinema. This afternoon the 10th QKFesti film festival is expected to begin, one of the most eagerly awaited events of the year. There are 18 films from recent years, including 9 animated films, which will compete for awards together with their production teams. Today will open with an exhibition of Albanian cinema, a delightful panorama of photographs featuring sequences from all the films shown on screen over the past 40 years. The oldest films will open the event. Thus, the first feature film, “Fëmijët e saj,” directed by Hysen Hakani (1957), and “Zana dhe Mimi,” the first animated film, directed by Vlash Droboniku (1975), will be screened on the big screen. They will then be followed by the competition entries: “Ujku, ujku” and “Vdekja e kaltër.” Ar. Ca.

Korçë, a night of fear: an earthquake shakes the city KORÇË - It was a night of anxiety and fear last night in Korçë and Pogradec. For hours, frequent earthquake tremors — about 20 in all — accompanied the transition from Monday night into Tuesday morning. The strongest shock, measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale, was recorded at 03:14. According to information released by the Seismological Institute, the earthquakes’ epicentre was on the Greek-Macedonian border, between Bitola and Florina. By yesterday evening, fortunately, no damage had been reported. “The earthquake tremors began at around 22:00 on the 8th,” Betim Muço, director of the Seismological Institute, told the Albanian Gazette. “They continued after 03:14, until after 04:00.” The shocks were felt most strongly in Korçë, Pogradec, and Bilisht, where people — especially those living on the upper floors of apartment blocks — ran outside in fear. But the tremors were also felt in many parts of Albania; they were even felt in Elbasan and as far away as Tirana. “The Greek-Macedonian border is known as a seismic zone,” Muço explained. “An even stronger earthquake was recorded there last September.”

Miss Durrësi 1995: police block the TVSH crew DURRES - A beauty pageant and violence in the city of Durrës. It happened on Sunday at the Sports Palace in Shën-M... Miss Durrësi. Police prevented the TVSH crew from doing its work, blocking the cameramen from entering and carrying out their job. “Later they told them to leave; someone was called on the phone, and they were let in after a while. The reason remains unexplained.” Meanwhile, the winner of Miss Durrësi was the beautiful 17-year-old Ermiona Lekbello.

/ Controversy erupts after the government’s decision: PR and PDD attack. PD and PS are in the crosshairs

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How much does a house cost? On page 3 “Thus they were confined for a century” On page 3 ZP journalist on trial On page 3

The Albanian Muslim Community wishes all Muslim believers a HAPPY Eid al-Adha. We hope that this holiday will become a source of family joy in Albania. In these beautiful and joyful days, Muslims strengthen their faith in Almighty God and deepen their devotion and submission to God alone. The believers’ noble tradition brings life to people during these days through visits to one another to exchange holiday greetings. This is a symbol of the love and brotherhood among people cultivated by the Islamic faith; this beautiful tradition brings people and believers closer together. A special feature of this holiday is that Muslim believers also turn their attention during these days to holy Mecca, where millions of Muslims from all corners of the world, regardless of color or race and all equal, fulfil their religious obligation, the pilgrimage. It is a unique congress of Muslim believers, united by devotion and deep faith in Almighty God. Once again, we wish you a happy Eid al-Adha and pray to God that each year this holiday finds us better and happier. Albanian Muslim Community