Special forces to stop illegal migrants Yesterday, meeting of senior Greek officials in Ioannina. Papulias also attended the meeting “Greek special forces to establish an iron cordon along the border with Albania.” The statement—made by the Minister of the Interior, Validhiqaqis—was issued immediately after a select meeting in Ioannina with the highest military authorities responsible for border defence. The Foreign Minister, Papulias, also arrived for this meeting; only a few hours earlier, he had concluded talks with the highest-ranking Serbian officials in Belgrade. On page 3

TIRANA - “I am pleased with the solution reached, but nevertheless Albania must report on the observations made by August 20,” Dominik Kulemberg, Albania’s legal rapporteur at the Council of Europe, had said in an interview with the Albanian Gazette, just one day after Albania’s historic admission to the well-known European organization. On page 3 The document signed in Strasbourg by Arbnori Rights on the abolition of the death penalty in time of peace accession, and to put into place a moratorium on executions in capital punishment. Article No. 3 On 17.07. add with a year from the — SASIS of judges and court personnel on the rule of law, and the most reasons Strasbourg, 29 Ju Signed Mr. Pjetër Arbnori, President of the Albania

Geneva Commission: “Stop the repression” Kosovo under tension: Bonn concerned Germany appeals to Belgrade: “Hold back the refugees” TIRANA - International solidarity for Kosovo is beginning. Following dramatic reports of rising tensions amid the arrival of Serbian refugees from Croatia, certain sections of the international community have mobilized. In the past day alone, official responses have come from the Geneva Human Rights Commission, the German government, and the Republican leader who is a senator in the United States. A subcommission of the Human Rights Commission in Geneva—the one for the protection of minorities—yesterday adopted a special resolution on Kosovo. On page 5

FOOTBALL Round II: the first matches conclude Berat, tension on the pitch. Record number of red cards and penalties On page 5

But the group will continue On page 7

Suspects include four people VLORE - The sound of automatic gunfire rang through the streets of a town where tradition had reigned in Himarë. Yesterday, at around 1:00, a young emigrant returning from Greece to spend the summer holidays in his birthplace was shot dead on the spot by automatic gunfire, apparently in a new robbery-gang incident. The killing of 26-year-old Petrit Dhjonari has caused grief and outrage in Himarë, not only because of the serious crime but also because Petrit belonged to one of the oldest local families. His funeral was to be held in the village today. The sequence of events in the tragedy was more or less as follows: shortly after midnight, the young bandits robbed one of the premises of the billiard hall, where, according to initial investigations, there was about 40,000 drachmas. In addition to robbing the premises, the bandits also took an emigrant. Four friends who were with him miraculously managed to escape the deadly bullets. The police immediately began investigations to apprehend the killers. All that is known is that the gang sped away in a “Mercedes” car with Vlore license plates. Yesterday, four people suspected of being in the car were also detained; iron bars and clubs were found in their vehicle, but nothing has officially been confirmed because of the secrecy of the investigation.

Gjirokastër On page 3 Skrapar Trial begins for the bronze robbers On page 5

Shkodër Tritan Shehu On page 3

Gjadër, tragedy averted LEZHË - Gjadër Airport is back in the news. After two “Predator” spy planes crashed in Bosnia, this time the scene that was to unfold involving a surveillance aircraft—this time it is the “adventure” of an Albanian military plane, which caused fear but also relief at Albania’s largest military airport. A “Mig 17” piloted by two Albanians managed to land after a serious malfunction that very nearly turned into a tragedy. The news was confirmed yesterday by the spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence in Tirana. On page 3 The entrance to Gjadër

TIRANA - In a phone call from PAD that came through to the PSD headquarters, a voice on the receiver said, “Help us with a partner’s office in Durrës.” The AD club in the coastal city appears to have been left without a roof over its head. PSD leader Skënder Gjinushi—the party’s branch in Durrës currently has two offices—expresses the need for regional assistance with a new Democratic Alliance project, but also so as not to turn into a co... in an apartment. A.Q

BALLSH Oil revolution: first horizontal drilling Production triples On page 3

A method for hiding cannabis from the curious GJIROKASTER - Cannabis in the yard of the house, but that is not all: villagers are now even changing the main entrance to divert visitors. No one must be allowed to see the plant that produces the sweet poison—not the wedding guests who come to escort the bride dressed in white, nor the people who come to offer condolences. Perhaps this is the latest method, unheard of until now, that villagers in the southern regions have begun using frequently to avoid punishment. The wedding guests celebrate, there is music for everyone, the families are dressed up and unprepared themselves, “condemned” by the joy of the wedding; the entrance is through the back door of the house, specially arranged for them, and for the newlyweds, who will leave again through the same door. Unfortunately, the musicians are often unable to accompany the bride and the young couple because of the difficult narrow path behind the house. In the same way, mourners at funerals: relatives do not want to be caught by the police, especially when the prohibited plant is involved. In the same way, the households where people console the bereaved relatives, as the saying goes, but stay calm so as to excuse the cannabis growing “peacefully” on the other side of the house, in its yard. No one knows that it “rests” there, often hidden on the side of the house, by the back entrance, where those who come to console the family or express their condolences enter. Often, in fact, we find villagers arranging funerals in a particular way so they can uproot the sweet-poison plant, while offering condolences through the small, awkwardly altered door. Gjirokastër Rajmond Kola

On page 6 Superfalëknyet Teshkilla “Kërnizovzet te u agjatur nen çader”

THE WAR IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA Coup in Bosnia? Sarajev[a] denies the report On page 2