The young Buzi’s family tells of his life and dreams His mother: “He wanted to build a stable” The young Buzi’s family tells of his life and dreams This is who the bomb man is His mother: “He wanted to build a stable” He had just returned from Greece, where he had worked for several years as an emigrant. He had also suffered from heart disease there. He wanted a loan of 2 million lekë. A few hours before the “attack,” he told his family: “I’m going to Tirana to get the money for the tape recorder.” On page 3 Bottom left, the Buzi family; top right, the young man with the bomb

Bottom left, the Buzi family; top right, the young man with the bomb

Yesterday, the ceremony for the international literary prize TIRANA - A fashionable atmosphere, well-dressed people, everyone respectable, dramatic proceedings and honors, and so much applause that they will be remembered for some time at the Ondra of Culture in Tirana. They, the

Sports Gazette Sports Gazette The Whites and Blues protested the disallowing of a goal. Sitting down on the field, they conceded a second “Teuta” back at the top. The bottom three make sacrifices in the hope of staying in the top division On pages 9–10

The national council of the Democrats meets

TIRANA - A worldly atmosphere, well-dressed people, all distinguished, and applause and tributes, so much applause that it will be remembered for some time at the Cultural Center in Tirana. They, the “great ones,” seemed as if they were in another world. Sabato, Kadare and Kodra, as if all the great ones must surely have been astonished when they saw so many people at the ceremony marking a rare cultural event. For the first time, Albania last night presented an international award in the field of literature. The “Velija” Foundation—the sponsor and organizer of last night’s ceremony—has shown that it is capable of organizing ceremonies that its respected counterparts could envy. “This place reminds me of my mother; you are just as quiet and just as steadfast as she was,” Sabato said yesterday to the strains of a well-known melody by Mendelson-Bertoldi, as Vebi Velija presented him with the award bearing Kadare’s name. That was enough to bring the packed auditorium, filled with hundreds of people, to its feet. Sabato seemed truly moved. A poet, Visar Zhiti, also gave him a little of the place of origin of the person he seems to honor most from Calabria. The Argentine Nobel Prize winner’s mother came from there. The elderly writer was even more moved—not usually so easily touched by international awards—but he shed tears when he learned that a small country had granted him what he holds most dear: it had given him the opportunity to bear the name of one of its own best-known people, Ismail Kadare. Sabato receives the “Kadare” award (photo: H. Pustina) Fatos Baxhaku

The Democrats’ National Council meets Final selection yesterday PS: Here is our list for the elections The PS Steering Committee has put another senior party body through its screening process, following the twenty parliamentary candidates who had stood just 24 hours earlier: the Socialist leadership. All 115 candidates—including some of the PS’s best-known figures—have managed to enjoy the same “taste of victory” in this second stage of selection within their party. On page 3 PD headquarters

SPECIAL REPORT Ministry of Internal Affairs On page 7 TO OUR READERS For technical reasons, “Gazeta Shqiptare” will not publish the weekly Gazeta TV insert. For this reason, its price will remain the usual 20 lekë. We apologize to our readers

ARMAND MERO TIRANA - Three years ago, this newspaper made its appearance on the press market. Thus Gazeta Shqiptare began its dialogue with its readers. Since that day, the newspaper has tried to be a faithful interlocutor of the events and changes that have accompanied the country. At every step, we have tried to report accurately and correctly on our pages, and, most importantly, to reflect the truth about everything: politics, the economy, sports, and Albanian culture and art. It has been a long way since 22 April three years ago. During this time Gazeta Shqiptare has undergone many changes: it has increased the number of pages carrying news from Albania and expanded its staff of journalists so that the information is as extensive as possible and as close as possible to readers’ interests. We will soon undertake new initiatives to introduce special features and formats, as well as specialized columns, into the pages of the newspaper, thereby meeting the needs of as many groups of readers as possible, especially those who make up the largest part of the readership: young people. In April 1993, Gazeta Shqiptare entered the Albanian market with the desire to bring something new to Albanian journalism, which, like everything else in the country, had for some time begun to reassess itself and embark on the path toward genuine professionalism. At the time, the work began very simply and without great ambitions, but we soon realized that by persevering and, first and foremost, making information our main objective, we could also achieve a different kind of journalism in Albania—one that, we believe, still has thousands of miles to go. Politics, crime news, sports, or any other field: we have always been, and remain, a place where information takes center stage. For precisely this reason, our colleagues working in these fields have tried—and their dedication and work can speak only to the readers—to be as serious as possible and to enrich their work. For us, the battle between political parties was news like any other, although many still find this difficult to understand. Firmly committed to this line of independence, because we believe it allows us to serve information and the development and freedom of the Albanian press—and therefore democracy in the country itself—better, we have continued, and continue, to work to this day. To get this far, we have traveled a not especially easy road, because we were among the first to follow an independent path: that of a free and independent press. Obstacles and difficulties of every kind have fallen on our shoulders, but the goal we had set for ourselves, together with many colleagues at other newspapers, made us keep moving forward. And we will continue on our way without changing any of our ideals: to provide clean, free, and independent information. Very soon we will launch new publishing projects and initiatives: various columns, more news and information from Albania’s regions, and coverage of the social aspects of life in the country. We will always seek to bring something more; we will always seek to change our newspaper, to make it as useful as possible for readers. But beyond these plans and projects, one thing will remain untouched: the reason we began this work, and the thing we are convinced helps our country—the truth.