Two guns blown up Operation Otranto begins Alarm at the law faculty: “There’s a bomb” — lecture halls emptied On page 5

Vranicki, the last hope for resolving politicians’ disagreements OSCE accuses: elections are being obstructed Andreatta’s warning: “If Fino falls, we will withdraw the mission.” Here is the new draft electoral law: 100 seats by majority vote, proportional representation without a threshold. All parties receiving 2 percent of the vote are included TIRANË - The OSCE denounces Albanian politicians for obstructing preparations for the elections within the established deadline. Meanwhile, another warning has arrived from Italy. Yesterday, the Minister of Defence, Andreatta, declared in the Chamber of Deputies that “if the 9 March agreement, which also made the dispatch of troops to Albania conditional, is broken, then the international mission will withdraw.” By now, Vranicki is the only hope left. If his mediation makes it possible to reach agreement on the law and the elections, then it may be said that one day the country will return to normal. Meanwhile, the new draft that Fino has decided to submit to the Government is ready. Based on the 1992 model, it proposes a mixed system with 100 seats elected by majority vote and proportional representation without a threshold, in which all forces receiving more than 2 percent will be included. Grubmajer denounces: “The politicians are the obstacle. They come up with a new pretext on every occasion. A decision must be made before 15 May” Vranicki On page 2

Parliament is dragging its feet on the Transparency law TIRANË - “The financial indicators have deteriorated, and for the situation to improve, order must be restored first and foremost.” Finance Minister Malaj presented the budget figures, explaining that the deficit cannot be covered with artificial revenues. On page 3 The budget: The deficit cannot be reduced with artificial revenues On page 3

Party visits before the elections are best avoided The return of refugees. Tirana rebukes Rome: “Don’t split up families” FROM THE WORLD

IT WAS AN INCIDENT TIRANE - The presence of weapons in the home has led to another tragic incident. A man accidentally killed his wife, leaving their three young children orphaned. He was subsequently detained by the police and was tried yesterday to determine what would happen next. The prosecutor’s request that he be placed under house arrest was accompanied by several petitions addressed to the court by his relatives and the deceased woman’s family. “He did not kill her intentionally. They got along very well and were wonderful parents” — many fellow villagers of the arrested man signed this statement as well. A few days earlier, he had gone out into the yard and fired his weapon at his home in a village on the outskirts of Tiranë, after hearing a noise and thinking someone was robbing him. But one of the bullets he fired in different directions across the yard had gone straight into the room where his wife was sleeping. The tragedy had happened, and the three children, one of whom was two years old, were left orphaned. The prosecution did not charge him with murder, since the incident is classified as manslaughter through negligence and a complaint is required for that charge. No complaint was filed; on the contrary, his relatives asked that he at least be placed under house arrest, and that is what was ordered, so he could remain with his family.

SKUQOVE BERAT - At just 12 years old, he tried to secure food for his family at gunpoint with a submachine gun. But his father would not accept this, and at another moment risked being shot by his son; the victims were a cart driver and the two quintals of milk he was transporting. Fortunately, the little boy’s adventure, during which he lived through scenes from horror films for several minutes, ended peacefully and without incident, leaving only a bitter memory. Two days ago, a 40-year-old man from Kucova was stopped in the middle of the road by a little boy who threatened him with a small submachine gun. The 40-year-old had for several years been transporting a load of milk on behalf of the Kuçova dairy. And because of this incident, he was forced to change course unexpectedly. “You will unload the milk at my house,” the little boy ordered the cart driver, who had to obey at gunpoint. But the situation changed quickly at his home. The father of the little robber, who had stopped the cart driver, refused to let the milk be unloaded at his house. “Let me do what I want, otherwise I’ll kill you too,” the little boy told his father. In this conflict, which could have taken an unforeseen turn, the father’s calm prevailed. He managed to persuade his son to hand over the Kalashnikov, then escorted the cart driver and his cargo back to the dairy — two quintals of milk. p. re.

TIRANA - “Sabotaged, huh”—how lovely; so this turns out to have been the best Parliament in the world. We could hardly refrain from saying such a thing when we learned that Parliament had run out of time yesterday, amid all the major troubles that have beset it, to deal with a purely humanitarian issue. The two parliaments have been divided, yet they have performed an act for which we should sincerely take our hats off to them. They have added another date to the already famous March 8 celebration that should be observed: May 9 has also been designated, by a special law, as Mother’s Day. Albanians, whose ears have by now grown accustomed to the crackle of gunfire, should try this Friday to forget it and remember their mothers, other people’s mothers—in short, mothers in general—and celebrate. Not bad for a Parliament facing even more important issues, but our Parliament is certainly humane, and when it comes to such matters it does not let you down. Perhaps as we were writing these lines in the newsroom, dozens of images were arriving of widows, killings, maimed children—stories of people dressed entirely in black. May 9 will mean nothing to them; every year they will watch how others celebrate. But that will not ease their pain at all. On the contrary, it will add to their suffering as they remember the children no one can ever bring back. And it seems that some parliamentarians have understood this. A large majority has led us to believe that many deputies did not agree with discussing celebrations at a time like this; nevertheless, Deputy Speaker Qirko made an appeal: “With great respect for your mothers.” Thus, a foundation’s program has been approved and Albanians now have another holiday. One is tempted to ask, though something would be far better for mothers: if our honorable deputies would resolve the parties’ problems and stop wasting time like this. When more important things need to be accomplished, so much work should be done for the country and its people. Only then would all Albanians truly have something to celebrate. Mothers, in all their hardship, are among the most wonderful. [?]

France, nothing new from the Chirac front

Better to avoid party visits before the elections TIRANA - Fino makes an appeal across the sea. “Italian politicians, don’t come to Albania again until the elections are over,” is the friendly message Albanian Prime Minister Bashkim Fino has delivered to Italian Foreign Minister Dini. Fino has asked Dini for meetings with Albanian-Italian and Italian politicians to be held in the neighboring country. Prime Minister Fino

COMPLAINT FILED IN COURT Nude photos: Miss sues “Klan” The magazine’s publishers accused by Sidorela TIRANA - Sidorela Kola has declared “war” on the weekly “Klan”. Perhaps the courtroom will decide one of the most sensational cases in the press. The former winner of the Albanian beauty crown, four years ago, reacted immediately to the unauthorized publication of her photos in the latest issue. She appeared on the cover and inside “Klan” in poses that plainly reveal intimate parts of her body. According to a source, these were not posed photographs, but moments from filming, during which the photographer—a well-known name in this field—managed to capture her beautiful and also desirable figure. Sidorela was never asked whether the revealing images of her could be published, and it seems they had arranged a notice and an image of her. The beauty’s anger has taken the matter to court: Kola has knocked on the doors of the “temple” of justice and has now filed a lawsuit against the publishers of “Klan”. It all happened at the beginning of this week, when the weekly magazine published the “sinful” photos. Kola’s reaction was immediate. Sources close to her told Gazeta Shqiptare that the beauty first sought an explanation at the “Klan” newsroom, but it seems that even after leaving, she found no reason to feel reassured. The only “sword” capable of resolving the “Gordian knot” was to fight it within the walls of the court. A lawsuit she filed accuses the magazine’s publishers of the way they handled the publication of the photographs. Miss Albania ’93 was photographed during the filming of “Kolonel bunker”, in which she also made her film debut. It seems to have been her physical beauty that prompted director Kujtim Çashku to give the image a close look at Kola’s appearance. In the final scenes, the beauty appears in revealing clothing that also exposes intimate parts of the former Miss. This fragmentary role did not go without being “explained” by the journalists and the well-known photographer Piro Naçe. As “Kolonel”’s director of photography, Naçe kept the “secret” of his shots to himself, while “it is not known how the photos fell into the hands of the ‘Klan’ newsroom.” (g. ym.) Sidorela Kola in the inside pages of “Klan”

This belated celebration of mothers TIRANË - “Sabiruk, me ...

Today, the draw for the final phase of the championship