Clashes and gunshots in the city. 700 people at the protest The Police Commissioner is disarmed. Uniformed officers strike the assailant with rifle butts. Fear disperses the crowd ASSEMBLY SCANDAL / Protests stir the North. Chaos breaks out even in M[?]azeku’s hometown “Should I repent?” Local DP leaders: “We will come out to the square every day; meet the demands made by the leaders in Tirana, otherwise...” Police: “The rallies are illegal. Do not force us to intervene.” Disputes at DP headquarters in Has, Kukës and Shkodër TROPOJË—DP supporters protest in the square over Hajdari. The police do not allow them to. Gunshots ring out in the air; people are frightened and scatter in panic. The party leaders organize the protest again. This time the police fire into the air more frequently. Members of the crowd try to break through the cordon of blue uniforms. One of them tried to seize the commissioner’s automatic weapon. A scuffle with them and an entire magazine fired into the air. Police intervene head-on and subdue these assailants. Everything happened on Friday in the town of Bajram Curri. Hajdari’s admirers shouted slogans against government officials and demanded that the requests put forward two days earlier in Tirana be met. Mazreku and dënk[?]isur on the steps of the Tirana Courthouse. (Photo P. Ilo) On page 3 Mazreku and dënk[?]isur on the steps of the Tirana Courthouse. (Photo P. Ilo)

FOOTBALL / Sport under the weight of politics TIRANA—Once again, football is hit by fistfights and crowd violence. This happened in Gjirokastër, and that is no small matter. In the 87th minute the match was stopped after fans entered the field. They hit the referee and caused such chaos that play could not resume. The result is irrelevant; what matters is that the violence, which everyone has had to endure, came from one side. It was not only the red-and-black supporters and political spectators who erupted; at the Partizani–Vllaznia match, too, the inability to maintain order meant that fear took hold and the police called the shots in the final minutes. From the league matches On pages 10–11

On Monday in court. Chief administrator: “The law must be applied” Government: “VEFA to the Court of Cassation” Arapi: “The Court of Appeal violated the essence of transparency” TIRANA—The dispute between the Government and the company VEFA is becoming a judicial odyssey. Tomorrow, Government representatives will file their appeal with the Court of Cassation. The objective of this latest legal challenge is to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision. The Government insists on appointing administrators to the VEFA company. “The Court of Appeal’s decision struck at the very heart of the transparency law,” Faurdin Arapi, chief inspector of the pyramid schemes, confirms to “Gazeta”. Three days ago, the Court of Appeal reviewed the appeal against the Government’s decision to appoint three administrators to the company. The panel of judges decided to approve VEFA’s request. According to this decision, the appointed [Skhe?] are unwelcome at VEFA. But Government representatives have decided to pursue to the end the investigation into the finances of the company that collected a great deal of money from citizens through pyramid schemes. “On Monday, we will submit a request to the Court of Cassation to overturn the decision of a lower court,” Arapi confirms. VEFA headquarters

First visas in November VLORE—The Greek consulate is taking over the Commercial Bank of Vlorë. The prefect of this city has handed over the keys to the premises for the Greek representation. Well-informed sources have stated that the consul will be in Vlorë by November. The Greek side has made the request several times, but Tirana seems to have hesitated repeatedly. The Greeks had a representation in the coastal city in the 1930s. Pangalos insisted on this point during his meeting in July with his counterpart Milo. The Vlorë consulate will be the second, after the one opened in Gjirokastër two years ago. Meanwhile, Vlorë is also being considered for another consulate: the Italian one. In this case, however, the obstacles appear to be purely economic. On page 9

TIRANA—Fino is at the head of the Government, but now only for two weeks. Nano must have arrived in Hong Kong and will then travel to the “Promised Land”. And Fino is once again hoping to return to the office from which he led the country for five consecutive months. The Prime Minister of the new Government of the National Party seems to have to give up his hobby, football, for a little while. “Now I have more work and will have to play less,” says the Prime Minister, who is preparing for the elections of 29 Qer-shorit, with a smile. Nano has entrusted Deputy Prime Minister Fino with running his staff while he himself has begun a tour to introduce himself to foreign financial circles. A few hours after setting off from Rinas to join the rest of the Albanian delegation, Nano called Fino from Bangkok. “How are things over there? As things are going, don’t for-get,” Arion [unclear] the Prime Minister, who was travelling to Hong Kong to attend the World Bank’s annual meeting, stopped at the airport in the Thai capital. Nano asked Fino how things were going in Albania. He did the same after arriving in Hong Kong. But Nano was interested not only in the work he had left to Fino, but also in the Deputy Prime Minister’s health. Before setting off on this trip, during which the number-one official of the Government would be away, Fino had just recovered from the flu. “It is natural for the Prime Minister to be concerned about his deputy’s health. If I am well, the affairs of state also run well,” says Fino. After going through his correspondence, the Prime Minister comes in as usual and, after giving the necessary instructions, Fino also goes out for a few moments to have a coffee, as he used to when nobody was looking over his shoulder. In any case, Fino has again given instructions to the other ministers, who now depend mainly on Nano, just as he himself and the ministers of the National Party do. Bashkim Fino

PESHKOPI / Reportage PESHKOPI—A return among the ruins of the building in Peshkopi. The families who lost their relatives and homes during the explosion at the end of July have been forgotten and left without support. But among the pieces of brick and broken glass, Liman Okshutuni continues to stay on the second floor; he had bought the apartment only a year ago. The ruined building in Peshkopi On page 4