After its drastic fall, the American currency was rapidly revalued yesterday. The American currency was rapidly revalued yesterday after its drastic fall Chaos in the currency markets “Pyramid schemes” hit privatization vouchers, but the dollar begins to climb TIRANA — Sudden reported exchange-rate fluctuations are causing chaos in the currency market. In the early hours of yesterday, the US dollar began climbing again, with the same speed with which it had started the previous day. A sudden increase in demand for the green banknote pushed its price up within a few hours—the speed of the dollar’s “comeback” against the lek was around 0.5 lek per hour—from 100 lekë to 102 lekë. But, as was to be expected, the increase in demand for dollars was also accompanied by a contraction in supply. Many exchange dealers preferred to end yesterday with their dollars in their bags, waiting for its price to rise further. One of the factors that caused the exchange-rate fluctuations was also the increased interest in lek deposits from several powerful Albanian foundations. And the rush by people to deposit as many lekë as possible at super-high interest rates spilled over into privatization vouchers. Offers to sell privatization vouchers increased so much that their price fell below 9 percent of their issue value. Meanwhile, exchange dealers and traders are waiting to see today’s movements of the dollar. Will it continue to rise today as well? On page 9

EXCLUSIVE Here is the “Top Secret” documentary on the Corfu incident TIRANA — “Both sides were at fault.” This is how the well-known historian Professor Paskal Milo, who has delved into the archives of the period, recounts the events of October 1946, when mines laid in Corfu exploded and struck British ships. “Albania knew that the Yugoslavs had laid them, but the British had also violated our country’s territorial waters,” he explains. Documents and photographs, being published for the first time and made available to us thanks to Professor Milo’s testimony, help today, 50 years later, to unravel the mystery of Corfu. Enver Hoxha, Hysni Kapo and even Koçi Xoxe knew that Corfu had been mined by the Yugoslavs, although they denied it for years, rejecting the judgment of The Hague. A position that kept, all these years, the side that the German Nazis had taken in Albania blocked. British soldiers removing mines in Corfu (Published for the first time)

Yesterday, a meeting of the PS Committee. Meta and Hajdaraga call for the leaders to be dismissed. Yesterday, a meeting of the Committee in the PS. Meta and Hajdaraga call for the leaders to be dismissed Nano to the Presidency: “The defeat is your fault” Dokle: “I am ready to resign from my post” Non-recognition of the local elections Poli: “We will not withdraw them” TIRANA — The PS is searching for the “culprits” behind the defeat. The socialists’ General Steering Committee has finally locked away in the safes of its Presidency the records of “manipulation and violence in the Local Elections,” apparently refusing to accept that analyses of the reason for the 20 October defeat of the PS in the Local Elections—those who first declared an anti-Presidency stance—have not found support, as they had predicted, among the members of the Steering Committee. The members of the Presidency remained calm. They managed to remain faithful to the line set a week earlier, without feeling even the slightest “threat” from their accusers in the press and at the GSC. On page 3

TIRANA — Pietro Zanoni, after astonishing Albanians by sending “exclusive” reports about responsibility for the attack on VEFA, Serbian financing in Albania, and even political events in the days before the May elections, is now astonishing the Italian media with the “death of Ratko Mlladiç,” the terrorist general convicted by The Hague. This time, the news that shocked—or rather bewildered—the Italian press appeared under the guise of an Albanian weekly, “Tirana News,” published in Italian and Albanian by Zanoni. The existence of this allegedly Albanian weekly, which Zanoni calls Albanian, became known a few months ago, when several copies were distributed to the editorial offices of Tirana’s newspapers. A phantom weekly that has not been seen in circulation since then. Illegal from many legal perspectives—the activity license and the printing house’s address were missing—“Tirana News,” described as Albanian, sends these news stories to Italy before they are spread in Albania; its managers have received denials, and it has been described as a stunt one day before the elections in Serbia.

LECCE LECCE — The flow does not stop… a number of Albanians have been arrested in Italy. Reports say that 75 kilograms of heroin have been seized—it arrived by speedboat near the Italian coast—and a number of Albanians have been arrested on charges of drug trafficking. Dozens more have been repatriated by the police after being caught disembarking from clandestine speedboats. On page 12

Local Elections TIRANA – “We do not recognize the Local Elections, but there is no reason for us to withdraw our people who have won seats as councillors nationwide.” Asked by Gazeta Shqiptare, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Neritan Ceka, explains the “contradiction” between his statements rejecting the Local Elections and his wish to be represented in the seats of the elected councillors. “The Centre Pole does not recognize the overall result, but it does recognize parts of these elections,” Ceka said. The 38 councillors won by the Centre Pole will not leave the Municipal Councils. “The statement made by Gjinushi and me has nothing to do with the posts won by our candidates on the Councils,” Ceka concluded. On page 3

Tirana Police officer detained He would erase the traces of the crime in exchange for one million lek, but was caught red-handed TIRANA – A police officer promised to erase from his station's files the name of a person who was highly sought after, but ended up in handcuffs himself. He demanded one million lek as payment for such a service, but was reported and detained red-handed by his colleagues from Police Station Number One yesterday. A mafia-style operation to pass him on to a prosecutor. On page 12

“The Lady from Barcelona” in the city of a thousand windows Berat On page 4

Greece: Albanian emigrants to receive status within 4 months Kakavija On page 2

Mejdani and Dokle

On page 10