Seeks concessions to buy the pyramid schemes’ debts Proposal for Fino ready: shares in hydropower, and I will return the money Albanians lost Proposals and a plan drawn up in Switzerland to repay Albanians around 1.3 billion dollars Lawyer Dizdari: “I am waiting to meet with the Prime Minister to present Sejdia’s proposal” TIRANA - Hajdin Sejdia is ready to take responsibility for paying off all the pyramid-scheme debt in Albania. A bombshell proposal has arrived in Albania from Switzerland, intended to be presented to Albanian Prime Minister Bashkim Fino. Sejdia has requested concessions over Albania’s national assets and, in return, would repay within record time the enormous debt of 1.3 billion dollars owed by all the pyramid companies and foundations. “A plan for this was drawn up and approved three weeks ago, with the advice of the best European economic experts, and I am waiting to present it to Prime Minister Fino, whom I have asked to meet and am now awaiting a reply from,” Sejdia’s lawyer, Shefqet Dizdari, told Gazeta yesterday. According to Dizdari, Sejdia has proposed receiving concessions or becoming a shareholder for a period to be agreed upon in the country’s hydroelectric power system. “However, the Government and its experts can also make their own proposals,” he says. “The important thing is to reach an agreement.” “If an agreement is reached with the Government, then all the money owed to Albanians will be repaid in record time.” On page 2

Residents exchange the police officers for their relatives “Çërik, Berisha assures: ‘The forces will not return to the city’” ÇERIK - Ten special forces personnel who had been held hostage by residents since Friday were released yesterday. They were not subjected to violence; the residents fed and clothed them, apparently using them to secure the release of four residents detained by the forces. Berisha phoned the mayor of Çërrik and assured her that the special forces would not return to Çërrik. On page 5 POLICE

KUCOVË Revenge lasts 40 hours: Rivals clash in the city An armed group has surrounded its opponents on the outskirts. Another victim on Friday On page 5

GJIROKASTËR Sambists prevented from heading south: Ambushes along the roads Shots fired in protest in the city: “We don’t want Berisha to come here to campaign” On page 5

The parties support the Prime Minister. PD representatives oppose it The Government makes a request to President Berisha The parties support the Prime Minister. PD representatives oppose it “Lift the state of emergency” The Government makes a request to President Berisha The parties: “Lift the state of emergency; it serves only the PD gangs and as a smokescreen” TIRANA - “The state of emergency must be lifted.” This is the request that the Fino Government sent to President Berisha just two days ago, during an urgently convened meeting about the latest tragedy in Cerrik. Now all that is needed is Berisha’s signature for the law adopted on 5 March this year to take effect, and people will be able to move freely after 9:00 p.m. as well. On page 3

TIRANA - “We will win decisively in the referendum.” The head of the PLL, Durollari, made his party’s predictions public yesterday. The Legalists’ calculations put the referendum result in June at 54 percent in favor of victory. The political situation, as well as several other moves that the monarchists are expected to make, are the two main factors on which the chief monarchist bases his predictions. On page 3

SOCCER Bayern are champions of Germany On page 7 A Bayern player celebrates with his arms raised among the fans.

The Farnesina does not deny it TIRANA - Could Italian Ambassador Foresti leave Albania? The news, published by an Italian newspaper, has not been denied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thus, immediately after the scandal that erupted in Albania following the publication of telephone conversations between Foresti and Shehu—although both sides disputed them—Italy apparently is considering the matter and has already identified the new person who will come to Tirana. The name being mentioned in Italian diplomatic circles, according to the AGI press agency, is Incisa di Camerana, currently Special Adviser to FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf. Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, questioned by the AGI agency, confirm that the arrival of a replacement for Foresti is being considered, although they stress that no name has yet been submitted to the Council of Ministers. In any case, the issue of Italy’s ambassador in Tirana has now become a secondary problem for Italian diplomacy and, although the bureaucratic procedures have not been completed, according to AGI the replacement could take place this year. Ambassador Foresti was supposed to leave Albania at the end of March and his successor, Alfredo Matacota, had already been appointed. But the rapid developments in Albania and the eruption of Italian responsibility in resolving the problems meant that his mandate was extended, “because at that moment his experience was needed,” Italian authorities had said. Now, following the publication of the mysterious telephone conversation with the leader of the PD, Foresti’s position appears to have been shaken. Matacota is also among the candidates, and the post in Tirana appears likely to be entrusted to Di Camerana, the ambassador in Mozambique during the UN Blue Helmets’ peacekeeping mission.

THE EXILES OF MOGADISHU TIRANA - Albania and Zaire. The parallel has occurred to many people lately, as the international community seeks a fair political solution—for everyone—but what connects them... it has now become clear what connects Albania with Zaire. Laurent Kabila, the leader of Zaire, graduated from the University of Tirana, like many of his Albanian colleagues who became famous during this latest uprising. Abdi Belleta is one of them—he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tirana, at a time when Enver Hoxha was trying to export “the revolution of an underdeveloped country.” Kabila’s classmates, now judges, lawyers and party leaders in Albania, speak admiringly of their colleague; some of them were even fortunate enough to have shared a room with him. In the years 1960–68, at the height of the socialist revolution, scholarships for students in various fields were provided from the solidarity fund. Laurent Kabila, then an activist in Marxist-Leninist groups, must have understood that this was an opportunity to spend four years in Albania. The number of students who came to Tirana on scholarships from the solidarity fund was not small; they came even from the most distant parts of the world. They included people of various races who were fervent followers of Marxist theory. Zaire covers 3 million square kilometres and has been experiencing civil war for 30 years, with thousands dying from hunger, high temperatures and killings. To this day, even the many statistics cannot account for them; official figures, presented optimistically, once put the annual number of deaths from disease and killings at around 1.2 million. Zaire’s long-time leader, Mobutu Sese Seko, ruled as head of state for 30 years and appropriated a vast amount of wealth, bringing the total to 30 billion dollars. When the civil revolt reached its peak and the two largest tribes, the Tucu and Hutu, were united under one leadership, Mobutu boarded a special plane and went into exile, taking refuge in a modern villa in France.