Distribution begins for the two groups aged 18 to 55 Distribution of securities for two more age groups will soon be ready in the capital. The younger people will receive vouchers worth 10,000 lekë, while the others will receive vouchers worth 15,000 lekë. TIRANA - Now, alongside pensioners waiting in line to receive their privatization debts, there will also be younger people. Distribution of tickets and purchases for those aged 18-35 and 55 has begun in the city of Lushnja. Since all the lists of eligible names have been completed by its civil registry office, Lushnja is the first place in Albania—followed by the capital—where the vouchers have begun to be issued. The 18-35 age group comprises around 270,000 people; their pockets will be “enriched” for one day with vouchers worth 10,000 lekë. The other 300,000 people, aged 35-55, will receive blue tickets worth 15,000 lekë. “Distribution will begin very soon in the country’s other cities as well,” Savings Bank director Bedri Çollaku told Gazeta Shqiptare yesterday, “but Tirana presents the biggest problem, since the number of beneficiaries exceeds 100,000.” While only the total number of pensioners has received the securities, Savings Bank specialists explain that these age groups will also be entitled to another such voucher, which will be distributed in later phases of this “valuable operation.” The period of use of these tickets is the same as that for pensioners. On page 3 REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA / STATE SECURITY / PRIVATIZATION VOUCHER / 20000

The PD group withdraws its request for their replacement TIRANA - The issue of the removal of the three Court of Cassation judges has once again come to the fore, definitively, during this turbulent period. Whether the three members of the Supreme Court had been discussed or not, the matter has been settled by the parliamentary vote, following a request by Ali Spahia, chairman of the PD group. Yesterday, Court of Cassation president Zef Brozi welcomed Parliament’s position, saying that “it is to this institution’s credit that, recently, it has become aware of the need for Albania to have an independent judiciary.” On page 5 Spahia Brozi

After three years in pretrial detention cells Gradeci regains his freedom The judges: “The new charge falls” TIRANA - He was escorted once again to Tirana Prison, but this time only in order to...

Grief and fear among the money changers Identikit images of the latest killers Police are searching for them in every corner of the country TIRANA - The circle is closing around the perpetrators of the murder of capital-based money changer Pirro Paloli. The investigation

France Iraq France The world against Chirac over the nuclear bomb On page 2 Iraq Botojë rreth

The new law TIRANA - Lower taxes on investments that will serve development and construction...

Judges: “The new charge falls apart” TIRANA - He was escorted once again to Tirana Prison, but this time only to say goodbye to his old friends. TIRANA - time only to say goodbye to his old friends. At noon, Hoxha’s trusted man, Sulo Gradeci—after three years behind bars—finally arrived home to his family. This was the decision of the Tirana Military Court, which yesterday did not accept the charge of “appropriating state property through abuse of office” brought against Gradeci, involving a sum equivalent to approximately 32 thousand dollars. On page 3 Sulo Gradeci as he waited for the verdict (photo: H. Pustina)

Police are searching for them in every corner of the country TIRANA - The circle is closing in on the perpetrators of the murder of capital-based currency exchange dealer Pirro Paloli. The intensive investigations launched, among other things, following Tuesday’s crime have now expanded, and the “manhunt” has covered every kilometre of the country. Meanwhile, the identities of the people now believed to have been the actual perpetrators who killed 34-year-old Paloli and stole thousands of dollars from him have been circulated at all Albanian border crossings. On page 5 The currency exchange dealer’s funeral

TIRANA - Lower taxes for investments that will serve the development and construction of two [unclear] coming to Albania free of charge or through loans. Yesterday, Parliament approved and amended the 1992 Law “On Turnover Tax,” which now has retroactive effect: it applies to all construction projects completed before its enactment. For about three years, substantial investments in construction have been coming into Albania, managed by individuals or joint companies. With the approval and amendment of this Law, everyone who during this period has invested their efforts and money in many sectors of the new Albanian economy will be able to benefit. It is now only a matter of the Law approved yesterday being implemented in practice, and Albanian traders will rush to the tills to collect what their state now guarantees them.

POGRADEC - From Zagreb to Pogradec to take his own life. This is the story of a rather enigmatic character whose body was found on Tuesday morning on the shore of the lake, directly opposite the city’s main hotel. The victim was named Zdenko Rupelji and was 45 years old. The exact reasons that led this Croat to such a tragic end are still unknown. Rupelji had come to Albania, crossing the Qafë Thanë border crossing quite easily in September 1993. It was the Pogradec law-enforcement authorities who helped keep alive a man who had said that he had no means of supporting himself. He stayed in Pogradec for several months and then settled in the village of Starovë. It was the villagers of Starovë who fed and clothed him until the final moments of his life. The first to discover the tragedy were several owners of establishments along the lakeshore. The police arrived at the scene immediately and tried to give him first aid, but it was too late: the life of the Croat who had chosen Albania as the place to die had ended at that moment. ed.fe.

Illegal migrants Police detain 13 Kurds in Librazhd They had arrived illegally from Macedonia. The authorities hand them back to Skopje M. Kikia on page 3

Vlorë Now helicopters against traffickers’ speedboats A major police operation On page 5

Yesterday, the Bari–Durrës ferry brought the special cargo DURRËS - They arrived in Durrës late last night. The journey was tiring for these creatures, unaccustomed to long trips. Then came the disembarkation from the ferry and their handover to the Albanian authorities. The protagonists of this story are a group of tortoises that had gone from Albania to Italy clandestinely: a group of tortoises. Four hundred of them were separated and shown locally, from Bari to Durrës. They all belong to three rare species protected by international conventions. Along the way, they were accompanied by experts from the Italian Forestry Police, who handed them over to the Albanian authorities. The story of the clandestine tortoises began months ago. Seized by various traffickers, some initially for research purposes, they created problems. “It’s good that we saved them from being sold, but where are we going to take them?” people said aboard the ferry on the narrow route, until, after great efforts by the authorities, the tortoises had been gathered together and settled near the shore, in scientific laboratories, for various individuals as well. The group of clandestines had been left in peace for many months. Some were well cared for and there was no particular reason for concern, but they missed a little of the forest they had been used to. The group of tortoises meanwhile had new members. But then another [event] came, and the formalities for their return were completed. The tortoises were loaded onto the ferry and arrived in the Homeland. Here they will once again be released into the forests from which they had departed. Perhaps this time nobody will bother them anymore. p.re.

Coming soon in Tirana. Vouchers worth 10,000 and 15,000 lekë will be distributed to 570,000 people

Iraq Battle around Radio Baghdad On page 2 Lezhë New arrivals clash with the police On page 5

On page 3