Rome’s decision: We will shut down the explosive depots On Wednesday evening Brokaj signed with Andreatta. Italian soldiers in Albania very soon A STORM IN DIPLOMACY ROME - Italy has decided to take the Albanian Army under its wing. This is a financial intervention that Rome itself has called a “Marshall Plan” for Albania. The neighboring country signed an agreement with Tirana on Wednesday evening worth 30 billion lire. Rome intends to revive the army’s devastated sectors: shutting down depots containing explosives, sending Italian military personnel to Albania, and training their Albanian counterparts across the Adriatic are the most important points of the agreement between Defense Minister Brokaj and his Italian counterpart Andreatta. Meanwhile, another sum of money will arrive in Tirana very soon, and once again it is Italy that is “donating” 200 million dollars to Albanian institutions. The coffers of the Police, Health, Education, Justice and Customs services will thus be supplied with Italian money until 1999. Around 300 Italian specialists, backed by an initial allocation of 30 billion lire, will enable the neighboring country to speed up and take responsibility for rebuilding the Albanian Army, Navy and Air Force. On Wednesday evening in Rome, the agreement protocol was signed by Italian Defense Minister Andreatta and his Albanian counterpart Brokaj. The signed document has six articles and a legal status that will govern the Italian forces during their mission. The specialists, experts and technical consultants will be led by General Luigi Cantone. The rest will be stationed in Durrës, where the Naval Group Command will be based, along with a rapid-response unit of the San Marco battalion. Andreatta stated the day before yesterday that the delegation of Italian experts would include 20 officers and technical consultants, while the force in Durrës would number 220 people. The latter, however, must be accompanied by a group of 100 military personnel. Italian aid to the Albanian Army will be provided especially through consultation, technical assistance, exercises and training, to be carried out in the most important sectors, namely the Army, Fleet and Air Force. Special attention will be given to air defense, communications and transport, and the removal of mines and various explosives. On Wednesday, Andreatta stated that there are 1,000 explosive-storage depots in Albania which, as he put it, must be shut down. Rome will also help with air traffic control, pilot training, meteorology and infrastructure. As for maritime activities, a maritime police force will be established for the first time, comprising around 80 military personnel. In addition to these areas, the meeting discussed other issues that may arise during the work, on which the Albanian and Italian sides will decide jointly. In light of this important news, the military and experts... open the doors to Albanian officers. It has also been decided where the Italian personnel will be based in Albania: some in Tirana, where the delega- [text breaks off] will also have its headquarters. [The funds] will be drawn from the Italian defense budget. Meanwhile, 1.5 billion lire has been allocated for the training of Albanian officers and technicians in Italy. Alba Maltezi

Servet Pëllumbi TIRANA - A storm is soon to hit Albanian diplomacy, too. Around 15 new Albanian ambassadors are waiting for the “sweeping broom” of the new political state. The names of the first new appointees—although they have not yet been made public—have begun to be heard frequently in the offices and corridors of the Government building. Servet Pëllumbi in Moscow, Bashkim Zeneli in Germany, Luan Rama in Paris, or the departure of the Albanian ambassador from Rome: these are some of the first semi-official rumors that emerged yesterday from the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Now only the sign-off is awaited... Meta. Because of the impasse, the position of Milo’s deputy remains vacant. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs still has in its drawers the names of the first ambassadors who will be the “voice” of the Nano government in the chancelleries of other countries. Sources at the Presidency say that Milani is expected to make the appointment this week. “Those ambassadors who served during the recent armed uprising in Albania cannot represent the Albanian state,” sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirm. Servet Pellumbi will be Albania’s ambassador in Moscow. Pëllumbi took the first step toward this post in the early months after he was elected head of the Albanian parliamentary delegation to the Black Sea countries’ conference. But to go to Moscow, the former secretary-general of the PS must give up his parliamentary mandate. Bashkim Zeneli is expected to do the same if he decides to become an ambassador. Mediani is expected to decree his appointment this week as ambassador in Bonn, replacing Zaganjori, whose term has ended. Zeneli is currently deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee. He was the PS’s first head of foreign relations. Former cultural attaché in Paris, Luan Rama is expected to become Albania’s ambassador in the “city of lights.” Rama was made to leave diplomacy three years ago “to make way for reform.” Now he no longer seems to be an emigrant in Paris, but the ambassador of Europe’s poorest country. P.re …bilization - have of the Government building. Servet Pellumbi are some of the first rumors concerning officials who left the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday. Now all that is awaited is Mediani’s signature on the decree, and everything will be made public very soon. Diplomatic efforts are under way outside Albania to place them in several other countries of Eastern Europe as well. In the Government’s central offices, its senior officials have been considering for weeks a reshuffling, the names of those who will soon move into various spheres. Meanwhile, the Government appears not yet to have decided to change the law for Meta’s sake. The former head of foreign relations at the PS has refused to give up his parliamentary mandate in exchange for a senior post at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A week ago, when all the other deputy ministers were appointed, the Council of Ministers agreed that Ilir Meta would be Milo’s deputy minister. But his appointment to this post—at least according to the law, which has not yet been amended—conflicts with his parliamentary mandate. But it seems the Government has given up and has gone as far as this. To change the law for the sake of

Pashko arrives in Nano’s car TIRANA—Pashko returns to Albania. The man who “promised” five years ago that he “would remain like a nail driven into Albanian politics” arrived yesterday at Rinas. At 15:20 he stepped off a “Swiss air” flight at the only Albanian airport, where a car sent by Prime Minister Nano was waiting for him. Pashko left Albania a few days after the end of the disputed elections of May 26. He has spent all this time in the USA. But the political changes in Albania changed his mind about staying in the “promised land.” His party is now part of the governing coalition, and Pashko is asking Nano to work with him. “Nano welcomed my wish to advise him and has invited me,” he confirmed to the “Gazette,” moments after getting off the plane. Thus, one of the founders of the DP, who left it. “My predictions came true,” the left, he commented a few days ago on the defeat in the latest election of the party he created. The former deputy prime minister says that during his visit he was met at the airport by Genc Ruli, the party’s chairman, and Agim Nesho, Nano’s adviser. The Democratic Party and one of the most charismatic figures in Albanian politics are now ready to cooperate with his former adversary, Nano. “Given the situation Albania is in, everyone is needed,” Pashko explains; he is expected to become an adviser to the Prime Minister. Pashko was the first of The first moment he got off the plane, his beard graying with emotion, Pashko refused to speak to the press, while pushing his luggage toward the airport building. After having his first coffee in the VIP lounge at Rinas, he said: “I came back because this is my place. I came for better or worse. Albania needs everyone. It truly needs everyone’s cooperation, in the state it is in. Spending a long time in America strengthened this conviction even more.” What will your position be in the Nano cabinet? “I have no fixed position. I expressed my wish to advise him, and he welcomed this wish of mine. And he invited me, without...” “doubt.” “With Nano? All the better. We’ll help him even more.” Absolutely. I am completely sincere. I am being open about what I am saying. What is the first advice you will offer Nano? “Let’s have a coffee with him sometime. Let’s talk first, because I have not met him myself and I want to know what he thinks. I am very optimistic. If your opinions are different—” “With Nano? All the better. I’ll help him more...” “We’ll help him even more.” At his first step off the plane, his chin trembling the Albanian carried a suitcase with coffee in Albania, in the VIP lounge at Rinas, Pashko agreed to speak to the Albanian media. Gramoz Pashko and Genc Ruli yesterday at Rinas

“On your feet” for the Serbs, have you returned to Albania?

Have you set “rules of the game” for this cooperation?

TIRANA - Meidani writes to Arbnori. “Leave the rumors and let’s move forward together.” The letter from the head of state has not softened the hunger striker’s human gratitude. “His concern moved me,” Arbnori said from his hospital bed, adding that Meidani viewed the reasons why he went on hunger strike differently. He hopes that the first signs of a humane dialogue will soon have an effect. The President invites Pjetri to cooperate President Meidani

TIRANA - The “battle” for water creates confusion in the street. Dozens of residents of the Kombinat neighborhood, carrying buckets, blocked the national road at the neighborhood’s exit. The police arrived within seconds, only making the crowd more difficult to manage; shortly afterward, the people cleared the road and lined up to collect water from the only tap. The residents repeat the same ritual every day. The Municipality of Tirana has thought of a solution. A well will temporarily supply drinking water to hundreds of residents in the area. Yesterday, around 1:00 p.m., the long line of people holding buckets and bottles, along with the limited water supply, caused confusion on the national road.

LEZHE / Electrical system out of service. Villages in complete darkness Summer rain floods the city A torrent of lightning over the city; two police officers come face to face with death LEZHË - Torrential rain floods the city. A torrent of electrical discharges. Two police officers come face to face with death. A lightning bolt struck where they were working. Only the intervention of the emergency response team, followed by their urgent transport to hospital, managed to save their lives. Preliminary damage is estimated at 6 million lek, while a number of energy facilities have been put out of service. Wednesday evening was a real nightmare for the district of Lezhë. At around three in the morning, the rainfall and lightning shook the city. Meanwhile, damage in the surrounding villages was incalculable. Two police officers at a rough location in the port of Shëngjin were the first victims of the electrical discharges. One struck them, leaving them unconscious. Only ten meters away was the emergency response team, which also provided them with first aid. They were rushed to hospital in a police-station van. The doctors’ intervention lasted three hours and saved the officers’ lives. Meanwhile, damage to the electrical network approached 6 million lek. The hardest-hit villages were Zefjan, Gjadër and Ball-drej. The electricity directorate confirmed that two transformers, electrical discharge arresters, twenty high-voltage insulators and thousands of meters of electrical wire had been put out of service. The rain, which lasted almost three hours, swelled the mountain springs, whose waters flowed into the city. Throughout yesterday morning Lezha was flooded, while stones and tree trunks could be seen in the streets and beside the fronts of buildings. Cars and people were unable to move around. It all lasted more than four hours. Around midday, the water level fell and people began moving about, while traces of a terrible night still remained in the streets. Irfan Rama

FOOTBALL TIRANA - The big teams qualify, but with difficulty. Barcelona play poorly, while Newcastle only manage to qualify in the 120th minute, when the Croatians had been reduced to ten men. Muster is eliminated from the USA Open. His performance was poor, but it was largely influenced by the talk circulating about drug use. The Bundesliga resumes today, with the important match between Stuttgart and Dortmund. On page 7

INTERVIEW Ngjela Çela Two rivals for the post of Chairman of the Control Commission speak. Ngjela explains why the law on judges is necessary On page 3 Ngjela; Çela

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