TIRANË - It is late. At this hour, newspaper newsrooms buzz with the feverish anticipation of the pages arriving[?]. This is what usually happens, and it also happened in the newsroom of “Koha Jonë,” the best-known daily, until, a few minutes after 22:00, the journalists and everyone working there found themselves in a tight spot. Several police vans escorted the entire staff to Police Station No. 2, starting with Director Lesi and Editor-in-Chief Frangaj and ending with the newspaper’s page designers. The stated reason was “document verification.” One of the witnesses says that police officers had made a pact on the spot. It is the first time that an entire newsroom has been made to answer questions as part of a check required by the police. The sight before us as we write late at night in our colleagues’ newsroom is sad. From a distance, we can make out Frangaj talking with several police officers who are still standing outside the newsroom. It is true that by then he had finished dealing with the “verification.” The offices are empty. Only a sad security guard has pressed his nose against the glass and is amusing himself[?]. At the offices of “Press-transport,” adjoining those of the newsroom, we learn that the distributors will also be suspended. Why? we ask. No one here knows how to answer precisely. “That’s what the police ordered us to do”—that is the only answer they can give. Several other newspapers distributed by this agency could also be affected. But the instruction is later withdrawn. The echo of yesterday’s cruel anxiety has been felt everywhere and dominates the press. The investigations are proceeding feverishly. In the victims’ families, the abuses against their murdered loved ones continue to pour in[?]; “so many” of them were simply caught by chance at the moment when the treacherous hand carried out the explosion. They are tightening the net further, and there are three initial detentions, but we still cannot understand how all this story is connected to the work of our colleagues, who were forced to report to the Police. We have nothing left to do but hope that the real criminals will be uncovered very soon and that the investigation will be able to do justice to journalists more fully, including our colleagues, who have merely gone through a bitter “adventure.” Here together

Four killed and 26 others injured Four minutes after the explosion Dead Vera Dume Muhamet Karamani Hasid Karamani Vaid Osmani Injured Vasilika Saperqoti Lamberto Pani Avni Mano Eva Xhunga

Suspected of direct links After the attack, the first arrests in Tirana TIRANË - The first arrests in connection with the attack in Tirana. Three former State Security officers ended up in jail last night. Initial information points to their direct involvement in the incident. One of them had been assigned to cover the former Soviet Union and Bulgaria, while the other two had served in Albanian territory. The hypothesis that the attack was carried out by the former Albanian Secret Police had also been voiced by President Sali Berisha himself immediately after the attack: “This is the work of the Secret Police, and it is the hand of professional criminals”—Albanian President Berisha said yesterday after visiting the site of the terrible explosion. No one had claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attack in Tirana, while the judicial authorities had begun an intensive investigation. Extensive police operations had taken several people to police stations to give explanations about the attack. The police had not yet announced a possible timeline of events, although there was talk of someone who had parked the car bomb in front of the “VEFA” supermarket. While a special group of prosecutors and investigators was set up to investigate yesterday’s explosion, the first arrests began last night. Three former State Security officers have been arrested. Their true role in connection with this attack is not yet known, but initial suspicions point to a possible link between the former officer who covered the USSR and Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Secret Service, UDB. Mentor Kikia

The operation begins after the attack After the attack, the operation begins Strict checks on the streets of Tirana On page 3

Extraordinary government meeting TIRANË - A large sum of money is being made available to identify as quickly as possible the cruel hand that, yesterday morning, perhaps carried out the bloodiest massacre in the Albanian capital in this half-century. The government has made “5 million new lekë available to the law-enforcement authorities for those individuals who provide concrete assistance in identifying the perpetrators of this barbaric crime.” On page 5 After yesterday’s explosion (photo: H. Pustina)

A message of kindness from a person TIRANË - For some reason, she always insisted on the warm leaves[?]. Vera used to say this all the time, but her face would light up with a smile after her characteristic laugh, which enveloped us in endless kindness. When we learned that she had been killed in yesterday’s explosion, we did not want to believe it. “It must surely be some Vera Dumetier,” we thought, but unfortunately the news was tragically true. Vera, kind, gentle, smiling Vera, was no longer alive. Her battered body had been disfigured. Only a ring, a small medallion she wore around her neck, was the fatal proof. You knew Vera Dume after she had returned from internment. After 16 years of absurd internment—her family had been forced to leave Tirana, along with the relatives of the executed Petrit Dume—Vera had begun to enjoy “home.” Having been such a pure companion, she did not want to remember what she had left behind, however much time had passed. “There are others who have suffered more than we have,” she repeated constantly. Recently, we had asked her whether we could help her find the remains of her executed father. It had been only a few days—just a few days—since she had found the job she was seeking[?]. Vera is no longer alive, taking with her that pure smile.

From the World On page 2

Among the injured Terror and hope in the hospitals The white coats on alert On page 5

“We will continue working” “Vefa” tightens security measures Now more guards at all branches On page 7

SPORT The Italian football championship in figures A whole page with the results and curiosities about all the matches of the past week. Tables for all the teams On page 6

09:03: A 50-kilogram car bomb rocks the capital, destroying the “Alba” supermarket.

Muhamet Karamani Hasim Karamani Vajd Osmani Vasilika Saperqoti Avni Mano Ismet Alia Alma Xhunga Abduraman Hoxha Rahim Hoxha Yrijane Gjoça Jeta Qosha Elona Shëngjergji Liri Fisheku Nikolla Gjoka Izet Demollari Lamberto Pani Eva Xhunga Petraq Kristo Kristaq Kristo Xhek Bruka Irma Kullokshi Pranvera Tega Sillo Milika Kristaq Pano Sheqere Muça Vasho Mukini