Gunfire and tension in the city after the false news: two wounded. A higher number of wounded is suspected. The people who spread the word remain a mystery A car with a siren caused confusion in the early morning hours. Then the battle began. Gunfire and tension in the city after the false news: two wounded A higher number of wounded is suspected. The people who spread the word remain a mystery Gunfire at night in Tirana; police identify the “hot spots.” “From now on, we will shoot.” So far, 40 victims On page 5 The leaders are campaigning at rallies again. Berisha has travelled north. A large rally in Kukës. Yesterday Nano preferred Lushnje On page 3 VLORA - “War” in the city of Vlora. A false report that President Berisha would arrive in Vlora caused citizens to abandon the streets and take up fighting positions. They filled the rooftops of apartment buildings and began firing all the weapons at their disposal, but into the air. The shops, market and cafés closed immediately, and the only vehicles on the roads were a few trucks and cars with armed people on board. The “battle” lasted nearly an hour and a half—from 9:00 in the morning—and left two people accidentally wounded. One of them is in serious condition, but their names have not been disclosed. Berisha has not visited Vlora since the outbreak of the anti-government revolt in the city. The Rescue Committee has warned that any presidential visit to Vlora will be met with weapons. On page 5 More accusations from the Presidency yesterday Berisha-Malaj The Urua again in the lead? From the protests in the city of Vlora

INTERVIEW / FORMER PRIME MINISTER SPEAKS Meksi on the pyramid schemes: “We were threatened” “Others removed me from the proportional-representation list” TIRANA - Aleksandër Meksi recounts the pyramid schemes. “They may have been money-laundering operations.” The man who watched from afar as the pyramids swallowed millions belonging to Albanians, the prime minister who was discussed in the press and media, the statesman who was threatened with being wiped out, tells the least visible part of the pyramid-scheme phenomenon. “I never saw any anti-pyramid-scheme campaign,” says the former prime minister, according to whom firms were praised from every quarter. Meksi says he had anticipated the danger they posed and was threatened over it. Casting a veil of mystery over the millions and the source of the threat, the former head of state did not want to say more. Meksi also voiced reservations about the PD leadership. “My removal from the proportional-representation seats was not done by the National Council, but by others,” he says. For Meksi, “this is contrary to the rules of the party’s National Council.” On page 7

“Has money laundering taken place?” Alarm at the Italian Anti-Mafia Directorate On page 3

More accusations from the Presidency yesterday in the lead?

The Central Commission accepts the European voting procedure Every step, from the door to the ballot box TIRANA - OSCE instructions on voting have arrived. “This is how things will be done on election day.” This was the manual given the “OK” by the Central Election Commission following an immediate consultation with the OSCE. It covers everything related to the voting procedure, personal documents, the arrangement of the polling-station commission, the voting booth and the ballot box. These are the basic guidelines included in the “How to Vote” manual received from the OSCE central office. Voting will continue until 18:00. The time for closing the ballot boxes has been brought forward. But the Constitutional Court will decide. On page 3

More accusations from the Presidency yesterday President Berisha Minister Malaj TIRANA - “Anti-pyramid schemes” and another “ping-pong” match between the President and the Minister of Finance. “Malaj will bear legal responsibility; he has done nothing to monitor the failed firms.” Berisha continued his accusations against the Minister of Finance. Just a few hours after Malaj’s letter, a presidential statement attacked him again, calling the minister’s response “insincere and desperate.” Berisha insists on his view that Malaj deliberately blocked transparency regarding the failed pyramid schemes. On page 2 President Berisha; Minister Malaj

ALBANIA’S SECOND MEDAL TIRANA – Albania has its second medal. Edmond Hoxha, in boxing, in the up-to-81-kilogram category, has won the bronze medal, becoming the second Albanian athlete to win a medal. Italy, the queen of these Games, has so far secured 119 podium finishes. Scala, Dortmund’s coach, is awaiting only his signature. Today or on Sunday, at a press conference, he will confirm his arrival on the bench of the European champions. On page 6

PRESS MISTAKES A mix-up over nothing but a beard Another observer mistaken for Pridham TIRANA – “Hurry, there’s an observer with a beard; you can’t mistake him for anyone else,” the photographers from many Albanian newspapers nodded in agreement. They had to make sure they photographed Brian Pridham, the man whose letter caused the now-famous turmoil in the Albanian OSCE mission. Instead, another observer, Bernard Owen, ended up on the pages of the newspapers. Here’s how... “It’s all the beard’s fault.” Only one bearded observer came out of the OSCE hall in Tirana. But it wasn’t Pridham. The bearded man himself, however, was another figure, also an important observer: Bernard Owen. Owen probably didn’t realize that while he was being photographed, the photo was in danger of meeting the same fate in foreign newspapers too—being captioned as someone else. By now accustomed to “bothersome” photographers, Owen made no gesture to suggest he objected to being photographed. The next day and the day after, his photographs appeared with captions that left him speechless. “Brian Pridham, the man who set off the storm at the OSCE,” read the caption beneath one of the photographs, while another said, “Pridham sleeping during one of the sessions of the People’s Assembly.” Owen thus bore the burden of being taken for Pridham, who, meanwhile, was hiding in an apartment in Tirana and had even had his telephone line disconnected. A beard had thus become the cause of the whole mix-up. Owen does not react at all to this not entirely accidental mix-up. A typical Englishman, he continues to behave as usual in the OSCE hall and shows—at least outwardly—no sign of resentment toward those who mistook his identity over nothing but a beard. Perhaps he has been mistaken for someone else this way before; perhaps his English coolness or his profession as a legal expert has something to do with it. The mix-up only came to light several days later in the editorial offices of the newspapers that had made the mistake, although it was not so easy by then to check the reverse: “Who is actually the bearded man?” The photographers and newspapers spent another day or two before becoming convinced that this time they really had got it wrong. Owen, meanwhile, continued his work calmly.[?] This account of the story is also an apology, which we owe, at the very least, to the bearded observer. Bernard Owen P.R.

ALBANIA’S SECOND MEDAL wins bronze

TELEVISION TVA and Alba TV programmes every day A helping hand for fans of the small screen in Tirana On page 8

On page 5 From the protests in the town of Vlora