Parties agree with Berisha Roundtable. “The electoral law must be changed” Party representatives yesterday at the Presidency TIRANA - Local elections will be held during the final two weeks of October. This was decided yesterday at a meeting between President Berisha and ten political parties. Consensus between the country’s top official and senior party representatives: they unanimously gave the green light to holding Local Government elections during this period, set for all sides. “The timing suits us,” the parties declared. “The timing suits us,” they jointly decided,” Berisha says. Objections and suggestions: this was the picture that characterized the two-hour conversation between the President and the political leadership. The party representatives did not hesitate to state, at Berisha’s presidential headquarters, the conditions they require for the elections to be held. On page 3

They douse him with gasoline and set him alight INTERVIEW / 15-year-old Fatmiri recounts the horror of that night from the hospital TIRANA—Terror on the outskirts of the capital. A 15-year-old Roma boy was set on fire after being doused with gasoline. After minutes of struggling against the flames, he managed to escape death. He is now in Tirana’s hospital for the sick, in very serious condition. His parents have been at his bedside for two days and are demanding that justice punish those responsible for this crime. Meanwhile, the police have managed to identify and detain one of the four perpetrators of this horrific act. His name is Fatmir Çobani, and today he is expected to go to court to receive the court’s decision on the detention measure. The incident happened the day before yesterday, on the outskirts of Tirana, near the car park by the prison. The boy Fatmir Haxhiu, a resident of Kombinat, had come with his 13-year-old brother to meet a friend of theirs. At nine in the evening, a van had stopped right beside them. Four people armed with machetes and sickles had grabbed them and set them ablaze. They had demanded money, but when they found nothing, they set the 15-year-old on fire. “They put me beside their van and poured a plastic bottle of gasoline over my head. Then they lit a match and set me on fire.” Minutes of struggling with death, until he managed to pull the burning clothes off his body. Haxhiu, barely able to speak, manages to recount the horror he experienced. On page 5 15-year-old Fatmiri in hospital

Police surround them in the cemetery AIR DISASTER Plane explodes

TIRANA - The newspaper “Koha Jonë” returned to the market yesterday. After several days’ absence, the daily overcame the crisis, once again taking its place in the Albanian press. Its re-

Work is blocked. Villagers: “We want compensation” The land issue. The state has not paid for the damaged land TIRANA - The Tirana-Durrës highway has ground to a halt. Farmers whose land is being used for the construction work have protested because the state has not compensated them for the damage caused to their land. Three days ago, dozens of villagers had gathered at the work site, forcing them to

TIRANA - The Tirana-Durrës motorway has come to a standstill. The farmers, on whose land the work is being carried out, have protested because the state has not compensated them for the damage caused to their land. TIRANA - The Tirana-Durrës motorway has come to a standstill. The farmers, on whose land the work is being carried out, of villagers gathered at the work site, forcing the bulldozers to stop working. They say they do not intend to halt construction of the road, which they themselves also want, but are demanding that the law be enforced, under which the state must compensate them for the value of the damaged land. For three days now, the road has made no progress, but the villagers are ready to talk with local authorities to resolve the problem. The farmers of the village of Kashar are due to receive around 1 million 300 thousand dollars in compensation for the damaged land, but have not yet received a single lek. For this reason, farmers whose land has not yet been damaged are not allowing it to be damaged. According to the farmers, the Italian contractors have said that they transferred the money to the Municipality’s account. Every day, the villagers wait by the road to talk with local officials, but suspect that the delays and failure to resolve the problem lie precisely with the heads of this local government. The blocked motorway

THE FOOTBALL TRANSFER MARKET Raklli, 200,000 marks to Hertha The contract provides for a season on loan A mega-offer for Altin Rrakli. For one year, the former Besa player will play for Hertha BSC of Berlin. A contract worth 200,000 marks will tie Altin to the German second-division club for the coming season. After spending six months at Hertha, Rrakli will continue playing there for another year. He had previously been tied to Hertha by a six-month contract. In the second half of last season in the German second division, he performed very well. Thus, the day before yesterday, representatives of the Berlin club appeared at the offices of Freiburg, the club with which Rrakli has a permanent contract through 1998. After an afternoon of negotiations, an agreement was finally reached: Rraklli will move on loan from Freiburg to Hertha BSC for one year, for a fee of 200,000 marks. In this way, the rebuilding of the Berlin team has continued. Just two years ago, it was in a terrible financial crisis. But state aid and, above all, its funding by powerful German businessmen have transformed the team in two years, and this year it is aiming to reach the first division. These were precisely the reasons that led Hertha’s management to turn its attention to Albanian players. Rrakli’s excellent season in the German second division has convinced Hertha that he is a good player for that league.

Zaçe: “We want results” TIRANA - Albanian athletes in Atlanta. The Albanian adventure at the Atlanta Olympic Games has officially begun. Led by Marjeta Zaçe, State Secretary for Sport, and Arben Jorgoni, President of the Albanian Olympic Committee, our team has set off for America. “What will matter is our participation in these Games,” State Secretary for Sport Zaçe said before departing for Atlanta. For the first time in its history, our team will be entirely dressed in sportswear funded by ADIDAS. Around 12 thousand dollars made it possible to outfit our team this way. The Olympic team will also be sponsored by COCA-COLA, which is also the official sponsor of the 100th Olympic Games, Atlanta ’96.

TIRANA - A full-scale police hunt is under way for a highly wanted person suspected of being responsible for several murders. Hundreds of police officers, supported by a helicopter and a number of dogs trained to track scents, have surrounded N. K., 32, on the outskirts of Tirana. But hours of searching have proved fruitless, because, knowing the terrain well, he managed to break through the cordon. He had done the same thing twice before. Forces from four Tirana police stations had been mobilized. An officer from the criminal police, dressed in civilian clothes, was there—he had done something out of the ordinary; he was the one who first spotted the fugitive and confronted him. The policeman and the fugitive faced each other at midday, their submachine guns ready to fire, for several minutes. Both had taken up positions, but the policeman could not shoot first. The law permits the use of a firearm only in extreme circumstances. N. K. refused to comply with the demand to surrender, while the policeman was simply unable to act. After escaping his pursuer’s aim, the fugitive entered a house among the hills in Shishtufinë and, in the midst of the commotion, managed to disguise himself. He was seen several times from the helicopter, as well as by several citizens, yet still managed to disappear without a trace. After several hours, some of the forces withdrew to Tirana, while the rest continued to keep the area sealed off. On page 5 NEW YORK - The skies are cloudy once again. An air disaster occurred on Wednesday evening. A plane exploded just 15 minutes after taking off on a flight to Paris. 228 dead, passengers and crew. Pieces of the plane fell into the ocean along with the charred bodies of the travelers, which were found at sea that evening, more than 100. The cause remains a mystery. America fears a terrorist act on the eve of the Atlanta Olympics. But as of yesterday evening, this remained only a suspicion. On page 2

NEW YORK - The skies are cloudy once again. An air disaster occurred on Wednesday evening.

On page 6

. TIRANA - taking its place in the Albanian press. Its return is undoubtedly a good sign, because the closure of a newspaper—whether large or small—serves no one; indeed, it harms the press itself and freedom of speech in the country. Everything was achieved through the mediation of the Sorros Foundation, which, with a swift rescue, set aside 135 thousand dollars to cover “Nikollë Lesi’s unjustified and excessive expenses—denounced by Frangaj—which had led to the accumulation of a debt of more than 200 thousand dollars owed to the printing house.” Thus, after fighting for three days in a row with mutual accusations against one another, the two owners of “KJ” made peace, “forgetting” what they had said, and agreed to work together again. But here it seems their owners will keep somewhat at a distance. Neither will be at the newspaper. Frangaj left the post of editor-in-chief, and it will be run by a board of five. This was the consensus for further cooperation. But to get this far, the issue of the debt incurred had to be resolved, according to Frangaj, “through the mismanagement of his partner.” The Sorros Foundation immediately came to the rescue and undertook to cover those expenses. Through a practice never before used, it helped the newspaper by giving it a repayable loan; the sum of money will be returned to the printing house, according to the guarantee given by Sorros. “Our aim is to establish a joint council for the newspaper and turn it into a genuine democratic institution for freedom of speech,” states the press release from the Open Society Foundation for Albania. The possible terms of this arrangement are unknown, but in any case “KJ” will continue to be published—and this is the most difficult and important thing—under Sorros’s control and direction.