Bullets fired at Mejdan’s cars: “Turn back” From the USA: “Voting should be postponed in at least some areas if the situation is not corrected within the week” INTERVIEW / The new OSCE spokesperson, Mark Smith, describes the difficulties. “La Lumiere is the final word” Bullets and pressure on the Socialists’ number two during his trip to Pukë On page 3 Unexpected proposal from American IDA observers: “They are far behind with preparations” On page 4 TIRANA—“We already know that there will be irregularities in these elections, and this is indisputable.” The unexpected statement was made yesterday by the OSCE spokesperson in Tirana himself. Mark Smith says that the aim of the monitoring institution is not to uncover every flaw or every irregularity. The spokesperson speaks about the difficulties encountered so far in several areas of the country, explains that many observer groups will be protected by ALBA, and also confirms the name of the prominent figure who will prepare the final report on the Albanian vote. She is a Member of the European Parliament and her name is Catherine La Lumiere. “We already know that there will be irregularities. It is already clear that these elections will not be conducted perfectly according to the manual or the standards. That there will be irregularities is indisputable. Therefore, the observers’ aim will not be to uncover every flaw or every irregularity. The aim will be to provide an overall judgment on the elections regarding the credibility of the electoral process...” Two newspapers for just 30 lekë The OSCE headquarters in Tirana

Tension the following day as well; gunfire empties the city market On page 5

Lawyer Koçi’s protest

The Ministry responds: “It’s not our fault; that’s what the Law says”

Vlorë

Berisha

The protest of lawyer Koçi TIRANA - The “Alia” case in the Constitutional Court. The former president’s lawyer yesterday requested that the judicial proceedings against Ramiz Alia be halted, since, according to him, this court cannot try him. “Presidents have legal protection that guarantees them the ability to carry out their duties. They are punished only for treason against the homeland and unconstitutional crimes, and only Parliament decides on this, and it also appoints the court that will try the president,” said lawyer Kleant hi Koçi. Ramiz Alia On page 3

law says” “Bomb” corpse injures three people Mirditë, had already been massacred MIRDITË - They riddled him with automatic weapons, but beneath the corpse they hid another deadly surprise: the killers placed a grenade on it, after first removing its safety pin. When the relatives came the next day to collect the body, the grenade exploded and injured three more people. Two of them are in extremely serious condition. On page 5

law says” Campaign: parties get a bag of money The smaller parties complain: “This isn’t enough for us” TIRANA - Alarm in the offices of the small parties. “We don’t have money for the campaign.” Yesterday, concern emerged from their central offices over their empty coffers, which must cover the substantial expenses of a normal campaign. The PD and PS, the two largest parties in politics, are also struggling and sounding the alarm at the same time: “We need more money.” Meanwhile, the finances of the smaller parties are even more strained, for whom such funding is more than an absurdity of the state’s treatment of the smaller players in politics. The few figures secured from the budget have emerged from the PD’s finance offices. It amounts to 30 million lekë, which, according to the PD’s finance officials, is not enough for a campaign of the kind this party runs. There are complaints from the PS camp as well. Under the system established before the elections, two-thirds of the amount will be disbursed, and the remainder immediately after the elections. Godo’s Republicans are dissatisfied too. On page 2

TIRANA - Berisha says no to the invitation from the small parties. “Meet at the table, but don’t count me in.” This was the content of a letter the head of state sent to the two party leaders. Two days earlier, they had invited him to take part in a roundtable with the 10 parties to the agreement. “The Constitutional Court’s decision is binding on all other institutions,” Berisha says in his reply, thereby opening another crossroads over the fate of this party. Sali Berisha On page 2

VLORË On page 5

SHKODËR On page 5

KORÇË On page 5

Escapes death DURRËS - At last, some good news. While people in her homeland rescue survivors trapped inside amid fears of gunfire, a young girl from Durrës is defying death thanks to a miracle of science that is saving thousands of lives: transplantation. Since Friday, 14-year-old Adriana K. has been living with an American kidney in her body. The Italian professor who operated on her at a hospital in his country is now optimistic about the girl’s health. Adriana moved to Italy some time ago; she was suffering from a serious kidney disease. For six years she had been living with the illness, waiting for a possible transplant. She spent six years undergoing difficult treatments and waiting for a sign of solidarity. Now, on Friday, at last, the girl underwent the operation that had been decided upon in reality! The girl was given the kidney of an 8-year-old American girl, who had died tragically in a car accident in Nevada. Above all, one of the parents of the unfortunate little American girl also donated another kidney—which saved the life of another Italian girl—and her liver, which saved the life of another little girl.

OTRANTO The tragedy filmed on video? A stir in Italy over the evidence tape BRINDISI - Was the tragedy of the Strait of Otranto filmed aboard the Italian ship “Sibilla”? The sensational news comes from qualified sources in Brindisi who, asking not to be identified, confirm the existence of a videotape on which the moments of the tragic event were captured. This is the first time anyone has spoken of the presence of such evidence, which would be the definitive testimony to the truth about the Strait of Otranto. It is not yet known whether judge Leonardo Leone De Castris will use this videotape in his investigation, but the truth is that from the outset he too has denied that there was any such video recording. Meanwhile, the survivors of the March 28 tragedy, after ending their hunger strike, have issued an open letter protesting the official stance and the irregularities in the investigation into the March 28 case. “We are Albanians,” the survivors say in their open letter, “but that does not mean we should be kept locked up and unjustly excluded from Italian justice. It is true that immigration is a serious problem, but it certainly cannot be solved by throwing people into the sea.” The Albanians then explain why they ended the hunger strike they began on May 23. “We ended the hunger strike,” they write, “because we need to get out and make ourselves heard. We noticed that few Italian media outlets write or speak about our strike. So we decided to adopt another form of protest: taking to the streets.” The Italian investigation appears to be a key issue at this moment for the Albanians who survived the March 28 shipwreck. “We denounce,” they write, “that 50—two months and 20 days have passed since the event, and nothing has been done so far.” The survivors’ problems seem to have begun just days after the tragic event. “The Italian investigators questioned us on March 29,” the letter says, “and many, many of us gave statements to Italian police officers, describing the departures of other survivors from the Caraffa barracks. They described in detail that we would have preferred to be distributed among relatives in Italy; 20 survivors accepted this, while only 14 of us were accompanied [as written]. We decided to continue the fight to bring the truth to light.” The survivors also find the absence of Albanian technicians “on the appointed team that was to follow the tragedy” inexplicable, the letter says. “We also asked Ambassador Pandeli Pasko about this, but we never received a serious response from him.” During this period, the survivors have made numerous appeals and requests to Albanian and Italian institutions to speed up the investigation and the work to raise the ship, but according to the survivors, no sustained action has been taken. “If the Italian side made interventions or changes during the filming of the seabed,” the letter says, “we will never find out.” Alba Maltazi

ALBANIAN GAZETTE Sport BARI ’97 How many will return? Our people in Bari: Will they return? On pages 5–8 FORMULA 1 MOTOCROSS TWO NEWSPAPERS FOR JUST 30 LEKË