The two conspirators recount their failed attempts in ’81 INTERVIEW/ “We were betrayed by one of our friends.” The assassination attempt was to take place in Tirana or Fushë Krujë PARADE OF WITNESSES “This is how these defendants interned us” Idajet Beqiri in court yesterday TIRANA - The investigation resumed yesterday at the Tirana Court into the fourth “batch” of defendants accused of crimes against humanity. The judges heard the testimony of the prosecution witnesses, which also requested that the hearing be adjourned. On page 5 FUSHË KRUJË - Dozens of years of internment for the family, 16 years in prison for the protagonists, and one of them, the ringleader: this was the outcome of the unusual adventure of two young men from Fushë Krujë who had decided in 1981 to kill Enver Hoxha. They had bought a Nagant-type pistol for eight thousand old lekë and had also managed to find an Italian rifle to carry out their plan. Their two attempts failed: the first because they could not get face-to-face with Hoxha at the Eighth Congress of the PPSH, and the second because they were arrested ten days before they could put their plan into action. The man who tells of the plot lives in Fushë Krujë and is the head of a private police force. Fatmir Daci says that poverty and the persecution his family had suffered were the reasons that drove him to take the “fatal” step. He had decided to shoot Hoxha on his birthday—he thought Hoxha would go in 1982 to inaugurate the Krujë museum—but instead he ended up in handcuffs. He was arrested after being betrayed by someone who knew about the plan. His comrade in rebellious ideas and prison is very ill and in a state of mental imbalance. Pirro Prifti now lives in Ankara, in fear of persecution, and is afraid of uniforms. He repeats in the streets of the city that he is not an enemy of the people. His mother, a former veteran partisan, and his sister, who spent many years in internment, complain about the hardships of life and the lack of housing. In the photo: the dictator Hoxha; above, the man who had prepared the assassination attempt On page 5

Yesterday, the parties’ roundtable TIRANA - “Stop abandoning the local election commissions.” This was the shared view of seven political parties, which, at a meeting convened by the Democratic Party—the organizer of yesterday’s roundtable—also said “yes” to legally punishing those who do so. “We should penalize attempts to boycott the Electoral Commissions for the local elections of October 20,” said yesterday representatives of the PD, PR, PBDNJ, Movement for Legality, BK, PBSD, PDK and PBD. On page 3

TIRANA On page 5 KRUJË In handcuffs

There will be no deputy chairpersons, only two secretaries Yesterday’s meeting of the Socialists’ leadership. Changes proposed Here is the strategy for the local elections PSD: “Campaign with meetings TIRANA – The Socialist Party will reduce the number of its leaders. The party chairman, a Secretary-General, and secretaries for economic affairs and public relations will be proposed to the Congress by the leadership of the country’s largest opposition party. Meanwhile, the Statute, the program, and the report to be presented at the Congress by deputy chairman Servet Pellumbi will be reviewed today by the General Steering Committee of the Socialist Party. A meeting of the leadership decided on the changes to the SP leadership and, at the same time, not to invite foreign delegations to the Congress, since, according to them, “they were present during the first phase of the Congress, and there is no need for them to be present during the next phase as well.” On page 3

Divjakë LUSHNJE - She had set off excitedly to spend a day at the beach with her relatives. Just like all the other children, who can hardly sleep when they think about a joyful day on the seashore

Here is the strategy for the local elections with meetings, not posters” TIRANA – “Meetings with the electorate, not slogans on walls”: this will be the electoral strategy used by the Social Democratic Party during the campaign for the local elections if it decides to join forces with other parties and take part in the elections at the end of October. Meetings with the Social Democratic electorate will be held throughout Albania, and senior leaders of the Social Democratic Party will take part in them. “The PSD began preparing for the local-election campaign by selecting the candidates it intends to run in these elections,” PSD deputy chairman Paskal Milo told Gazeta Shqiptare, adding: “We are not prejudging the local elections, and I say it is much too early to give our final word.” On page 3

On page 7 Die at the Language and Culture seminar

SPECTACLE A hopeful assessment of the 60 contestants in the two groups is given to the jury. On page 4 The winners of Beach ’95

VÉLIM IGNORANCE? A seal in Albania is brutally massacred Rare mammal at Patok killed by fishermen TIRANA – A seal enters Albanian waters, but is brutally massacred by fishermen. The incident occurred on Saturday, when the rare marine mammal was seen very close to the shore at Patok. The fishermen’s boats immediately set out and surrounded it with nets. The seal did not swim away; on the contrary, it began frolicking and jumping over them. But while everything seemed normal for the species, which was appearing in Albanian waters for the first time—and it apparently regarded the people as friendly—the fishermen did not behave that way. With unparalleled brutality, they began hitting it with an oar in different parts of its body, even breaking its teeth. Surrounded by people, the poor seal was bloodied as it tried to get away from the boats. But, as they had apparently anticipated, it could not escape any farther. A strange crack rang out, and the samvat covered its body; it was then thrown ashore, where it died two hours later. Ignorance or barbarism? The slaughter of the seal, a species protected throughout the world, is deeply saddening. It is hard to believe that this was done by people of the sea themselves. The frightened, primitive, selfish attitude, the total lack of [??], and the shame that makes you blush when you hear the story of the seal and see it massacred. The television news reports the story, while passing over in silence what ought to be shouted aloud: an innocent animal is torn apart as in the age of cannibalism.

Sport The Cup: a formality that must be completed TIRANA – The first matches of the Albanian Cup have concluded. They included many formal fixtures, which in quite a few cases turned into comic matches—not so much because of the scores as because of the way the games were organized. In Tirana, Partizani played on a pitch that reminded us nostalgically of the old muddy grounds. It was all the more fitting that one of the best teams should play football there in the future. Meanwhile, the two most important developments concerned the official football competitions of the year 2000. [The passage about the pitches and grounds is garbled in the source.] Uncut grass, even a dog on the pitch, but fortunately for the players it was not chasing them; it was minding its own business. For about five minutes the dog ran around, and then came the news: Partizani–Lezha 5–2! Ajax have lost again, this time in an official match. The Dutch champions were unable to withstand the Cup challengers, PSV Eindhoven. The Philips players’ three goals overwhelmed Van Gaal’s side, who have now suffered their sixth defeat in significant matches. There are major doubts about the match results. The reason was not doping or stimulants, but the change of the sketch. On page 6

TIRANA – The Socialist Party will reduce the number of its leaders. The four Socialist deputy chairmen

The drug old-timer in handcuffs On page 5 KAVAJË Weekend of accidents: two drivers detained On page 5

LUSHNJE – She had set out happily to spend a day at the beach with her relatives. LUSHNJE – She had set out happily Like every other child, who can hardly sleep when thinking about a joyful day by the sea, 13-year-old Erisa Kaceli from Berat had also set off for the beach with her family. It was here that tragedy struck, causing immense grief not only in her neighborhood, “28 Nëntori,” but throughout Berat. An ordinary day at the beach suddenly turned into a day of mourning. The child drowned in the sea. The incident is similar to dozens of such cases that have occurred before on Albanian beaches. At around 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, the girl ran into the sea with some children her own age. The sea was rough, and the children began playing in the waves. Just moments later, the parents lost sight of the little girl; the terror began at that very moment. Erisa had ended up about 100 meters from shore, and all the desperate efforts by her father, along with those of the other distressed people, proved tragically futile. Only an hour later was the unfortunate child’s body found by people, whose numbers had by then swelled into the hundreds. All further efforts—including the speed with which the police-post van drove to the hospital in Lushnje—came to nothing: the little girl’s heart had stopped beating. The girl had once before been the protagonist of another unfortunate “adventure”: she had gone missing, and her parents found her three hours later, her head resting against the trunk of a pine tree as she slept peacefully in the depths of the vast forest. Halit Tafa

FROM AROUND THE WORLD Presidential aircraft crashes; eight people die, including an OJ? On page 2 Clinton celebrates his birthday