The brother of Zani is arrested in Tirana. Some of his friends are also taken into custody RENEA mega-operation; 32 suspects end up in cells Fear persists in Vlora. Residents: “Don’t leave us alone.” Troops continue operations against terror The brother of Zani is arrested in Tirana. Some of his friends are also taken into custody “The special forces leave, terror comes” RENEA mega-operation; 32 suspects end up in cells Fear persists in Vlora. Residents: “Don’t leave us alone.” Troops continue operations against terror VLORA - Panic is spreading through the city of protests. “Once the special forces leave, the terror will start again”—these words were enough to make people anxiously contemplate the days ahead. “We don’t know who is spreading this, but it is being done to undermine people’s confidence in us, and by people who are interested only in making the situation worse,” representatives at the special forces’ camp said yesterday. Meanwhile, 32 people were taken in for questioning yesterday alone. Three of them were referred to the prosecutor’s office for investigation. Two are suspected of being members of gangs, while the third is accused of committing criminal offenses. The people taken in yesterday were also questioned by the police. Meanwhile, another concern seems to have taken hold among the special forces. “The prosecutors in Vlora play backgammon all day in their offices, and nobody there has the mind to take on the investigation of cases; meanwhile, in Tirana, the case files have not been handled properly either. The people detained face a mountain of charges, while the files minimize them.”

MEKSI WAS GIVING THE ORDERS The document signed by Meksi Arian Çani When the Socialists came to power, the first thing they did—the thing they truly had in mind—was to create a new administration, different from the one of the previous years. The PD opposition thus found itself with a ready-made basis for harsh criticism of the Nano cabinet. The new Prime Minister was immediately accused of being the man who launched a severe reform against the old representatives. From the pages of the newspapers, anxiety and fear have now reached even the ... offices, but for the purposes of this order you will take the following functions into consideration ...,” the former Prime Minister wrote, thus requesting a file for everyone, from ministers down to the ordinary secretaries of the Municipal Communities ... “Meksi 2” lasted no more than a year from the date of 10 September ’96, and perhaps the head was not enough for the great ... of the administration to pass through the filter of purges, but one thing seemed certain: the account of this power of everyone ...

THE FORMER HEAD OF SHIK SPEAKS Karkini’s departure: “Nano did it to me” “... One day Mr. Nano, as if he had a militant of his party in front of him, after all my sacrifices and repeated requests to meet him, summons me and asks me to resign. By then, I no longer had much desire to work in the Information Service either. Nevertheless, I could not accept a resignation that was against my principles and unjustifiable. President Meidani announced my dismissal, at Nano’s direct insistence, justifying my release on the basis of the new political conditions created in the country. But it should not be forgotten that the deputy head was nominated by the Socialist Party, as was Klosi, the chairman who replaced me. I have nothing ... Karkini Iljoparagi?kim for him. These actions give me reason to say that the National Information Service will never be a depoliticized institution.” On page 3

Visa stories TIRANA - Five squad commanders in the Objects Protection and Security Department have been dismissed. “They allowed corruption to go unchecked at the Italian Embassy,” says department chief Fation Softa. According to him, the changes were made following citizens’ complaints about the police officers serving there. The complaints revealed that the officers, after taking money, gave preferential treatment to people they selected to be allowed in out of turn to obtain the visa they wanted. “Some of them even drew up lists, for 15,000 lekë,” says Softa. In addition, there have been cases in which police officers behaved brutally toward citizens, leaving them waiting out in the open. This caused irregularities in the long lines of people waiting outside the Italian Embassy. But complaints to the chief’s office have not been lacking. “I went myself to check the situation,” says Softa, “and saw that many of the citizens were right.” That was why the department chief took the severe measure of dismissing them. “I will make new changes among the rank-and-file police officers too,” says Softa, according to whom this is the only way to resolve citizens’ problems. The result was immediate: whereas 25 visas were issued per day, the Embassy is now able to issue as many as 60. Citizens are noticing the difference.

If it had happened, the whole city would have blown up FIER — Tragedy almost struck the city of Fier. The fire, which started in one of the forests of Libofshë, came within metres of others filled with ammunition and explosives. Four fire engines from Fier began battling the flames; two more joined them from Lushnjë, followed by two from Ballsh and Vlora. The fire was fanned by a strong wind blowing from the west. The flames caused grenades and bullets left in the ground during the looting of depots to explode, while tension mounted among the people fighting the fire, since the entire area around the tunnel was mined. “A real tragedy has been averted. If the fire had reached the tunnels, the whole city would have blown up,” the fire chief said after the battle. The fire was extinguished late at night, when it was only one metre from the first tunnel.

The director’s appeal TIRANA — “Drivers of officials, you are currently the most frequent offenders of traffic regulations.” Pashk Tusha, Director of the Tirana Police, addresses “yellow plates” in particular in an open letter, urging them to comply more closely with the law. Although dozens of cars are impounded and hundreds of fines are issued every day, traffic remains a problem. This is the basis on which the director asks drivers of official cars not to use different licence plates, given that a car has only one set of plates. “You enter intersections controlled by traffic lights on yellow and red, drive faster than the permitted limits, and cause many collisions and car accidents,” Tusha writes. The appeal is also addressed to private drivers, asking them to obey traffic regulations to avoid problems. These range from breaking basic rules to falsifying documents, ignoring police officers, and so on. Tusha also says that official plates issued to some kiosk owners and some businesses will be withdrawn immediately. Crimes are also committed using various vehicles, which makes the work [of the police] more difficult. But Tusha hopes for a Tirana where traffic rules become a model for everyone.

TIRANA — Horses have returned to the boulevards. The Municipality’s concern over the extraordinary proliferation of horse-drawn carts was first raised by the Municipality’s deputy mayor, Mr Ramiz Ballja: there are around 5,000 horse-drawn carts constantly circulating on all the streets of Tirana. Lately, horses had become an inseparable part of the streets and boulevards of the capital. But Deputy Mayor Ballja’s concern had, in fact, arisen earlier. There had been a municipal decision stipulating that no horse-drawn carts should be allowed inside the city ring road. Nevertheless, the matter was [partly illegible] further; it had been left unenforced and had been unable to stop the horse carts, which competed forcefully on the same roads with foreign tourists and cars bearing diplomatic plates. Two or three problems, to be sure, are the reason Ballja says the horses risk being declared unwelcome on the streets. First, traffic, which already has plenty to contend with because of the disorder caused by the slow carts. Second, since Tirana’s horses are not qhaqë? [sic] enough, even near state institutions, this shows how the voice of the treasury [unclear] had been a decree providing for fines of up to 5,000 new lek each, in its paperwork. Thus Tirana remained the only capital in Europe where horse-drawn carts compete horse-drawn carts compete enough to remove old horses from human transport, the cart is going out of fashion in the metropolis and in Albania itself. But another major concern is the service for capturing dogs. Stray dogs will continue to roam freely on Tirana’s streets for some time; municipal officials are afraid of getting into trouble with the police over the six possible campaigns in the streets to exterminate ownerless dogs. A full 1.7 million new lek have been allocated for this purpose, but no action can be taken without first obtaining approval from the police. The gunshots from the six-person team appointed to carry out the decision are likely to summon the entire capital’s police force, perhaps including RENEA special forces. The danger posed by these animals, especially in the outskirts, not to mention the systematic disturbance of the peace late at night, has turned them into “personae non gratae” on our streets. A fund had also been allocated a year ago to get rid of stray dogs. But whereas it then amounted to only 100,000 new lek, the current figure of 1.7 million shows how serious this problem has become. Indeed, the fact that many citizens have bitter memories of encountering packs of ferocious dogs at night seems, in one way or another, to have raised the concern of citizens and those who have the power to do something. of ministers and of the [unclear] from that of four years earlier. The PD organization thus had its card of strong criticism of the Nano cabinet ready. The new Prime Minister immediately complained, as someone who had begun a harsh reform targeting long-serving employees. From the pages of the newspapers, fear has now reached even the most remote offices of the ministries. Hundreds of junior and middle-ranking officials continue to tremble with fear of being dismissed. But the same thing happened after the elections of 26 May. At that time, the Democrats, who had taken power, issued an order requiring personal files to be prepared for political and civil servants in the Albanian administration. Everything was to be made easier then, and former Prime Minister Meksi ordered his ministers to organize detailed information within ten days about all the people paid by the state. From the Presidency to the Institute of Statistics, Meksi’s form was to cover 41 state institutions. An order issued on 10 September 1996 and signed by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers himself marked the beginning of the major reform of the administration. This decision by the government of the time had not yet been supplemented by implementing regulations, but Meksi ordered [text breaks off]. “The positions to be occupied by political officials and civil servants have not yet been established by implementing regulations; carts compete bearing diplomatic plates. Two or three problems, certainly,

“Gazeta Shqiptare” is seeking correspondents in the cities of Berat, Burrel and Tropojë. Those interested should contact us at the following telephone numbers: 626-46, 638-83, 638-55.