Storm at the Police Station: 20 officers and dozens of police officers dismissed New Deputy Chief Meçe: “They are also suspected of links to smuggling and crime in the city” VLORË — A storm is brewing over the police officers at the city police station. At least twenty of them will be dismissed from their posts. On the grounds of being unfit for their duties, they may be referred to the prosecution authorities for criminal proceedings. The accusations made by Medi Meçe, a deputy chief of Vlorë police, at a meeting with journalists were also the statements made by the special forces who had arrived from Tirana. The officers are suspected of having links to smuggling in the city, as well as to organized crime. Along with them, a large number of police officers are also expected to lose their jobs. The latter have for some time been turning up at work merely to collect their salaries. The collapse of the police force has continued since the events of February. The storm came after the appointment of the new police chief. Along with him, most of the management staff and personnel are expected to be replaced. The special forces have regarded the Vlorë police’s failure to cooperate with them as one of the main reasons why they have been unable to catch the criminals as quickly as possible.

INTERVIEW / Speaking: Fatos Klosi, the new chief TIRANA — Fatos Klosi talks about SHIK’s past. Seated in its highest office, the 45-year-old official says that “he will bring a new vision to the institution he heads.” But he is quick to add that he will not smear the SHIK of the past. Klosi is of the opinion that the National Intelligence Service must operate on the basis of new legislation and be more transparent. “SHIK will be a completely depoliticized institution.” With this idea, Klosi entered his office yesterday to familiarize himself with the past of the much-discussed institution in the country. “Our task is to reconstruct it.” On page 3

Zani Çaushi

TIRANA / IT WAS FULL OF AMMUNITION TIRANA — A tunnel containing weapons and ammunition has been discovered. A full 70 kilograms of TNT, enough to blow up an apartment building, along with guns, are now in police hands following an operation in the New Tirana area. Behind a door locked with a padlock, once it was opened, a large quantity of TNT was found inside: 42 grenades, three automatic rifles, a heavy machine gun and a pistol. No details have been given about the exact location of the “military” tunnel, for reasons related to the investigation. The operation to search the surrounding area followed information received by Police Station No. 2 in Tirana. Police forces surrounded an underground site and then opened a heavy concrete door, which revealed a facility that could have been used for terrorist acts. However, the possibility that the ammunition had simply been stockpiled by a citizen, without such intentions, has not been ruled out. Police sources also report that the day before yesterday, in Tirana, alongside a quantity of ammunition, the following were seized: 70 kg of TNT, 13 heavy machine guns, 13 light machine guns, 39 automatic rifles, 11 rifles, 17 pistols and 62 grenades. Meanwhile, yesterday, they seized … of automatic weapons, a heavy mine and a helicopter. No details are being investigative reasons. The operation to search the dangerous Tirana. Police forces surrounded the area and then sealed it off with explosives. They waited to catch the person who might have been in possession of the ammunition, but he did not appear in the hidden tunnel. After that, the blue-uniformed officers blew open the door and entered the dark tunnel. They carefully took stock of all the weapons inside. The experts took the TNT, grenades, automatic weapons and machine guns and transported them to the station’s depots. But the story does not end here. … heavy machine guns and grenades, with no other purpose. Tirana, along with the aforementioned quantity, machine guns, 39 automatic weapons, 11 rifles, 17 pistols and 62 grenades were seized. Yesterday, 32 automatic weapons, 6 rifles, 20 grenades and 10,000 bullets were seized. “There are specific plans for disarming the population,” says Pashk Tusha, the top police official in Tirana. According to the director, there has been cooperation in recent days regarding the surrender of weapons, especially from residents of the Bathore area. Police Station No. 1 has also been working on this. “The police,” Tusha says, “have thousands of reports about tunnels, bunkers and depots sealed up by citizens.” Roland Zili

KAVAJË — Wounds a traffic policeman in the middle of the city. He leaves Kavaja in the direction of a hideout about an hour and a half away, but is then pursued by the police and, after a brief firefight, is killed on the seashore. F. Kazu, known by the nickname Fuçka, drove around for about three hours on Thursday afternoon along the city’s main road with his men. The barrels of automatic rifles protruded from the car, and shots were fired into the air. People scattered in fear, but the bullets did not spare a traffic policeman. He was wounded in the leg and immediately taken to Durrës Hospital. On page 5

Albanian Foreign Minister speaks: “This was only the first step” Foreign Minister: “Prodi did the right thing” [Top line cut off] … is Albanian Diplomacy. This was only the first step Milo: Hope for the refugees Foreign Minister: “Prodi did the right thing” Paskal Milo How do you assess the Italian government’s decision to suspend the deportation process for Albanian migrants? It is a realistic decision that undoubtedly also reflects the conviction of the democratic government, which has always attached particular importance to emigration. It demonstrates the Italian government’s humanity in treating Albanians with care after the drama Albania went through in recent months. At the same time, it was a response to all the efforts made by the Albanian government to resolve this issue, perhaps temporarily. It is also a response to those blind, anti-Albanian attacks by the irresponsible political circles of the Democratic Party and its newspapers, which were more pleased to find an opportunity to make political noise in Albania than they were saddened by what was happening to the Albanians there. This fact also demonstrates respect for Albanian foreign policy and the very good level of Italian-Albanian relations. How do you view relations with our northern neighbors? The Albanian government has made its initiatives toward its northern neighbors known. It has declared that it favors dialogue to resolve disagreements at the negotiating table, discussing the issues that divide us in a spirit of understanding. In other words, it seeks to create a new situation in relations with our neighbors, without forgetting—and also placing the national question at the center of attention. Talking does not mean reaching an agreement. First comes the stage of recognizing the problems, then discussion is the second stage, and resolution is the third. So we are beginning with the first. We have already announced our message of dialogue with neighboring countries; I think we have taken the first step. Now we await responses and messages from our neighboring countries, which have said they are ready to talk with us. They are ready to move forward. When the time for concrete talks comes, we will see how committed they are to sitting down for genuine negotiations and resolving the problems. How would you describe the diplomacy you “inherited”? A contradictory diplomacy. For the most part, it was confined within the walls of the presidency, while the rest of it was let loose, but without a personality of its own. What is the first step you will take toward changing it? The first thing that will change is, clearly, an open, collective political policy, not a policy of backroom deals and individual action.

TIRANA - The government has put an end to the uncertainties about the senior administration. At yesterday’s meeting of the Council of Ministers, the new deputy ministers and prefects were appointed. On page 3 Nano

CRIME DECLINES Tirana lives through its first day without a murder Disarmament continues, tragedies recede TIRANA - The “miracle” happened. “No murders and no robberies took place on Thursday.” The words spoken by Pashk Tusha, director of the Tirana Police Directorate, finally bring the optimistic news of a day without anyone killed in the capital. After more than six months, Tirana has finally managed to experience its most peaceful day. No Kalashnikov shot or bomb explosion claimed lives, as usual. The crime logs in the police station registers were blank on Thursday. This is a fact that undoubtedly made an impression even on the police officers themselves. It seems that people have finally become aware of the extraordinary scale of the tragedy caused by weapons. Every day: blood, crimes, lives cut short, rapes, robberies... “The sense of wonder has died out among Albanians.” Accustomed to the enormous, indifferent to every tragedy. “Murders have become commonplace,” is an observation often heard around the tables where people talk. And the news that, at last, a day has passed without a mother’s fresh tears for her murdered son manages to have the desired effect. “How? No one was killed?” It seems impossible. The idea that there must be people killed during these days of Kalashnikovs has tragically taken root in people’s minds. But that is not solely their fault. What follows is only sadness. Police records confirm tragic weeks with as many as 17 people killed in a single night. Horrifying details in forensic doctors’ files. Young people riddled with bullets, magazines emptied silently into a body of flesh. Against the backdrop of these scenes, a day comes when, on an ordinary Thursday, people no longer have a reason to recount, as they do in cafés, the age-old crime of murder. Roland Zili

TIRANA - A theft “with no culprit” at the General Prosecutor’s Office. The finance safe was opened and 2 million old lek as well as 900 dollars were stolen. The incident took place back in March this year and was investigated, but the case was amnestied and is only being made public today. Insiders at the General Prosecutor’s Office managed to steal from the institution’s finance cashbox on the night of March 16. The amount is estimated at around 3 million and 500 thousand old lek. As-yet unidentified people broke open the cashbox and took the aforementioned sum. On the morning of March 17, the office employee discovered the theft, and an investigation immediately began. The prosecutors insisted that the theft in their own “house” be treated as a priority. Sources at the General Prosecutor’s Office said the case had been handed over to the district prosecutor’s office. The same sources report that during the investigation many prosecutors were questioned, suspected of having stayed away from the theft. However, fingerprint testing and the examination of the crime scene produced no concrete result. The laboratory analyses did not “accuse” any of the people tested. Thus, the mystery remained until August 11, when the case was amnestied. Meanwhile, it is reported that this is not the first theft to have taken place inside the General Prosecutor’s Office building. Another theft of the same kind has also been committed at this institution; it was accompanied by another increase, while remaining undiscovered. In any case, the case in question has been amnestied, along with many other criminal offenses.

Government, the second wave of chiefs