Bites to the neck and hands of the 6-month-old He had entered the baby’s room. After the massacre, he calmly left DURRËS - Horror in a remote village in Durrës. An 11-year-old strangled an infant, biting him savagely on the neck and other parts of his body. The 6-month-old baby was found lifeless in his cradle, covered in blood, while his killer had calmly gone home. Only the police investigation uncovered the chilling truth. The 11-year-old boy entered the infant’s house while the parents were away. Sneaking in through the window, the monster-child was found in the room with the 6-month-old baby, and his barbaric instincts left the little one massacred. Bites to the neck and hands until the baby died. Isolated by the police, the child killer offers no explanation. According to law-enforcement officers, he behaved aggressively: in a matter of moments he had torn up a thick notebook they had given him. The investigation found that the 11-year-old is mentally ill. This is why he has still been left at home and is kept under police supervision from time to time. According to the investigation, the child killer had previously attacked various people, but only injured them slightly. The horrifying incident raises an issue that puts society at risk and threatens it. This child cannot be blamed for what he has done: he is not responsible for his actions. The blame lies with normal people who do not take care or measures to keep him under control. On page 5 The cover of Gjon Buzuku’s “Missal” TIRANA - “We Albanians, the children of Buzuku, thought that our language had a written document, but now we have been left without it.” The latest news comes from the Vatican. The original of this major work and the first document of written Albanian has been lost. Gjon Buzuku’s Missal has disappeared. The old medieval book, one of the most important testimonies to the Albanian nation, was no longer listed in the archives of the Apostolic Library. Its disappearance, together with the Gllavenica epitaph, sounds the alarm over the loss of our country’s history. The alarm was raised by Professor Dr. Musa Hamiti, who has been researching in the language archives for five months—1987. The Vatican Library was initially the repository of Buzuku’s Missal. According to Professor Hamiti, Albanian and foreign scholars know that it was kept under the shelf mark 3-194 and later under the new shelf mark 4-244. “For a long time this monument of medieval Albanian remained known only to a very limited number of specialists. The first news of its existence was given by Monsignor Gjon Nikollë Kazazi of Gjakova in 1740—according to Professor Hamiti in his interview, he had discovered it at the College of the Propagation of the Faith in Rome. Pal Skëroi was the first to publish photographs of the original text. Then, in 1929, Father

And Vlora comes after the others From the match “Flamurtari”-“Humene” 0-2 (P.Ilo) “Flamurtari” has not escaped defeat in the European Cups either. A game without imagination, not a single shot on goal, and consequently a tasteless elimination for the Vlora side. The teams continue to suffer from a lack of tactical systems as well as insufficient athletic preparation. In this way, the final international chapter for Albanian teams has also come to a close, making way for the national team on October 8, against Portugal. On page 8

Majko: “It is a mistake, an incomprehensible mistake” The bombshell finding, one day before proceedings are due to begin TIRANA - The speech by the imprisoned socialist leader has not been scheduled on the agenda of the Party’s Second Congress. What Nano is expected to send to his party’s highest forum has not been determined...

Durrollari returns to Tirana TIRANA — The Legaliteti Movement Party will “cross” the threshold of the local elections. The decision was made two days ago by the leader of the Legalists himself, Leka Zogu, following a meeting he held with a delegation from Albania. Meanwhile, from the oval table where Leka Zogu held talks with the senior politicians of his party, headed by Guri Durrollari, emerged a changed assessment of cooperation with the DP. But the continuation of this cooperation, according to Durrollari, will depend greatly on the stance the Democratic Party takes on the issue of a popular referendum to determine the constitutional form of the state: Monarchy or Republic. But in his political suitcase, Durrollari—recently returned to Tirana—also has a strategy for alliances with other parties. “The parties of the Right-Wing League will be our main allies,” Durrollari said, “but we do not rule out parties that will support the idea of the Referendum.” On page 3

TIRANA — The speech by the imprisoned Socialist leader has not been scheduled on the agenda of the Party’s Second Congress. What Nano is expected to present before his party’s highest forum is not included in any of the Congress’s three program points. TIRANA — Nano is expected to present before his party’s highest forum is not included in any of the Congress’s three program points, which have been printed in 600 copies and already distributed. “It is an incomprehensible ‘mistake,’ at least considering normal procedure and the place the party chairman’s speech occupies on the Congress agenda,” the main supporter of the Nano motion told Gazeta Shqiptare. Thus, just 48 hours before the highest forum of the Albanian Socialists raises the curtain on its proceedings, it seems that another barrier of disagreements has arisen between the motion supporters and the rest of the Party leadership. This barrier has been labelled an “incomprehensible mistake” by Nano’s supporters, including Majko’s representatives. On page 3

An orchestra can cost as much as 1 million TIRANA — In the centre of the capital, just a few metres from the foreign-exchange market or the securities exchange, another unusual marketplace—the music market—bustles with activity and attracts attention. Far from the printing works, and amid unmistakable bustle, hundreds of musicians open their “portals” punctually at 6:00 p.m., offering buyers prices for their melodies. At 9:00 p.m., offers and requests come to an end. The marketplace of musical staffs has had its say. But this, too, is a market where supply and demand intersect, and calls are also heard to protect “made in Albania” products from foreign imports. The wedding-band business is perhaps the only one that could survive for decades under the conditions of an absolutely centralized socialist economy. On page 7 At the orchestra market in the capital

It is the third event of national scope after the Folk Festival. On page 4

The entire country stood yesterday beside the parents of the two victims of the paedophile. On page 2 Yesterday, at the funeral

BERAT — She had lived near the river for three years and on Wednesday became its victim. An 11-year-old girl from Berat drowned on Wednesday in the Osum. She had gone swimming with two younger girls, and all three had been in danger. But the two little girls managed to get to the bank, while the 13-year-old remained “trapped” in the river mud. Although first aid was given to her immediately, it was too late to save her life. Irena Kokoçi, 11, had found a car inner tube and decided to bathe in the waters of the Osum River. She took two other girls with her, both younger than her, and the three climbed onto the inner tube. They played together for a few minutes, but suddenly the tube overturned and the girls ended up in the river. The water was only one metre deep, and the two younger girls managed to get to the bank. But Irena was not destined to do the same. She became trapped in the mud at the bottom of the water. The two girls immediately raised the alarm, and many people went into the river. They found the girl, but the little one had lost her life; they administered first aid, but it was too late. The little girl had lived with her family for three years in a house only 100 metres from the river. The number of victims of the heat this summer is rising; there have been many, mostly children. Ha. Ta.

ESHA RI» TJON ZIKUIT tar. A disappearance which, together with the Gilanec epitaph, sounded been conducting research in the vast archives for five months. In an interview broadcast on Vatican Radio, the professor also delivered the grave news. When he asked for the original Meshari, he received the reply: “It is not in its place and is considered lost.” A curt answer, perhaps given without much regret by the library staff, but a terrible blow for Albania. The Albanian researcher had gone to the Vatican to examine these original pages of the Meshari and make known aspects of it that were still unknown: the paper’s marks and watermark, its quality, the exact format of the original, the publisher, the place of publication, the printing and the year of publication. In March 1996 he had applied to consult the original. It was the person in charge of the reading room who first informed him that the book was not in its place. Only persistent insistence and repeated requests, along with consultations with specialists and library administrators, revealed that the original Meshari was considered lost. According to Professor Hamiti, the last two people to consult it were two Kosovar scholars, who made a microfilm for the 1980 Prishtina edition. Gjon Nikollë Kazazinga Gjakova provided the images in 1740—Professor Hamiti explains in his interview—having Faith in Rome. Pal Skiroi was the first to produce photographs of the original text. In 1929, Father Rustin Rota took three photocopies of the book from the Vatican Library; they are now kept in the National Library in Tirana. Now all that remains is to pray that Albania still has the photocopies. What is happening to our country’s history? Ancient archaeological works, statues, historical artefacts and icons have crossed the border and disappeared. The widespread alarm turned out to be mere noise. By now almost everyone has forgotten these facts. Two years ago, in the centre of Tirana, the Gllavenica Epitaph disappeared from the National Historical Museum—the earliest evidence of the historical existence of Albanians. Noise, commotion, arrests, condemnation. Not long afterwards, everything was forgotten. Now comes another piece of news. We have also lost the first document of written Albanian. If things continue like this, one day we will be left with nothing; we will lose our history. And to the generations to come we will say: “Once there was the Meshari of Gjon Buzuku, but it was lost; once there was ... but it was stolen; once there was ... but it was robbed and sold for money,” ar.me

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