PYRAMID SCHEMES / Those who lost money face the weight of the state: They must answer for it Tirana Police report them: They have broken the law The Ministry’s order to block Alimuça of VEFA is also in doubt. Sudists face Pashk Tusha The main accused is Seiti, Chairman of the “National Association of Creditors” Police Director Tusha: My people already have the evidence ready to support the report On page 3

AFTER THE CRISIS IN ITALY Meksi TIRANA - Meksi gets his revenge on Prodi. “Now you’re like me, but I’ll give you some advice too.” Just a few hours after the Italian media reported the resignation of the head of the Italian government, his former Albanian counterpart hurried to help him. “Getting Prodi reinstated? That’s very easy,” says Meksi, laughing, as he gives the magic formula that would put Prodi back in office. “Let the money flow, get Vranicki to act as mediator for ... Prodi The Albanian prime minister. Meksi denies that his statement has a cynical tone. “This is only friendly advice,” he adds, recalling the role former leader Prodi played during the last elections in Albania. Meksi, the politician, adds that from the outset he disagreed with the formula of “early elections,” since, for him, the absurdity begins with the fact that in a democracy things cannot be imposed at gunpoint ... Following former Albanian colleague hurried to help him. “Prodi winning? That’s very easy,” says Meksi, also revealing “He should dissolve parliament and appoint Vranicki as election mediator and... we’ll supply him with Kalashnikovs free of charge from Albania.” The former Albanian prime minister was quick to stand by his Italian counterpart after his resignation yesterday. Meksi is convinced that Prodi could win again if there are new elections in the neighboring country. The plan the Albanian politician is offering his colleague from across the sea is simple and costs nothing. For Meksi, it would be enough for the defeated Prodi to bring in Vranicki as mediator and observer of the Italian elections, while remembering to make the widely publicized promise of handing out money to ordinary Italians. “As for the Kalashnikovs, we’ll send them to him free of charge from Albania,” the former [man speaking] assured from his studio.

- A whole arsenal of ammunition has been discovered in Saranda. In a peripheral neighborhood of the city, the largest quantity of weapons found in the southern city was discovered hidden in a huge pit. It consisted of 480 offensive grenades, 117,400 rounds of various calibers, 340 kilograms of TNT, 72 grenade-launcher charges, and 72 antitank shells. This is the largest quantity of weapons seized in recent times. On page 5

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TIRANA

TIRANA - Another DP Congress? The head of the Movement for the Reform of the DP, Arben Meçe, has not ruled out the possibility of holding an extraordinary Congress of his group. Although he denies that this would be an alternative congress to the one the larger DP will hold a few days later, Meçe further argues that a genuine Assembly should be democratized, not to overthrow Berisha but to compete with him. A day after DP leader Sali Berisha closed off the paths that would have led his party toward factions within it, the Selami supporters have delivered a firm position. “The issue of factions is not in Berisha’s hands,” says Meçe, according to whom, whether Berisha likes it or not, the time for factions in the DP has come. Meçe answers Berisha: You don’t decide

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On page 5 GREECE

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KORÇË - “The city has not been cleaned properly, and the workers have not been provided with suitable clothing.” KORÇË “You didn’t take out the garbage, now pay” Municipality penalizes the company for violations KAMZA OF SPECIAL IMPORTANCE TIRANE - “The Agricultural University of Kamza should be declared an object of special importance.” This was the proposal put forward at the academy and barracks by Asimi, the Police, the Prefecture, together with several MPs, on Wednesday. The main subjects discussed were the occupation of student accommodation at the University of Kamza and in the Student City buildings, and their blockade by people who had forcibly taken them over, threatening the students. The academic year for the faculties of the University of Tirana is approaching. As is well known, beginnings are always difficult. One of the problems concerning the Ministry of Education is the vacating of the buildings of Q. Studenti and the Agricultural University of Kamza, which in recent periods have been forcibly occupied by illegal individuals [?] and others using them as homes. “A real ‘business’ has been made of these rooms,” said the Deputy Director of the Tirana Police, Hasan Ahmetaj. “Someone has occupied four or five rooms and then sold them. Someone else lives there and rents out their own home. Nevertheless, we will not intervene by force.” On Wednesday, the Prefect, the Police, representatives of the Ministry of Education and the director of the Prefecture met to discuss these problems, which are now urgent. Various MPs were also present. During the meeting, which proceeded in a spirit of understanding, the Police suggested that the Agricultural University of Kamza be declared an object of special importance. “That will make it easier for us to urgently evacuate it, in accordance with the plans to be drawn up by the administration of this University,” said Ahmetaj. The leaders of the Ministry of Education approved this request, but a special order from the Government is still awaited. “The city has not been cleaned properly, and the workers have not been provided with suitable clothing.” This was enough for the Municipality of Korçë to fine the company that had undertaken to clean the city. And it was no small fine. It amounted to 159 thousand lekë, or 7 percent of the total value of the entire cleaning contract for the city. The company “Korsel-Kondor,” Municipality sources told ATSh, has failed to comply with the terms of the contract we signed several months ago. It left collected garbage lying around and failed to provide workers with proper work clothes.” In fact, the Municipality had also expressed reservations about the way the company had carried out its cleaning work throughout the period. For example, bins in the city’s neighborhoods were often left unemptied for long periods. The company’s president, Maksim Fejzullaj, appears to have admitted some responsibility, acknowledging that in fact only 70 percent of the contract had been fulfilled. “Nevertheless,” the president added, “this happened as a result of the recent unrest and, especially, the unforeseen rise in prices.” The company “Korsel-Kondor” seems to have taken on a difficult task, yet appears to have neglected cleanliness and failed to equip its workers properly in the very city most “obsessed” with cleanliness. The Municipality was forced to fine the company in question following valid complaints from dozens and dozens of Korçë housewives, who “protested” that for days various things they had gathered had not been removed from their alleyways. Thus, after many complaints, the Municipality finally made its decision.

VLORË The sappers, or the silent heroes The story of the unit that escaped destruction VLORË - The war in Vlorë left one military unit untouched. While the entire army, including in the South, was completely destroyed, right in Vlorë a military engineering unit was fanatically defended by the soldiers. It was March 1 when the entire personnel of the engineering unit at the place called Pusi i Mezinit was on Alert No. 1, ready to defend the unit. It is not known exactly how the unit’s defense was organized, but amid an atmosphere of attacks by numerous townspeople, the military unit in Vlorë was defended, even with gunfire. For days, the officers themselves managed to defend the unit, even though it was located on the northern outskirts of Vlorë. But reliable sources tell the newspaper that an attack was organized nearby; nevertheless, although some weapons, ammunition and everything inside the warehouses may have been looted, the unit was defended fanatically by the soldiers themselves. This testimony is one of the aspects of the value shown in defending that region, the most fiercely contested one in Vlorë, by officers who, in the eyes of many residents of Vlorë, deserve to be decorated, given the widespread use of weapons among the civilian population. But if it is still worth emphasizing, it should be said why this particular unit managed to resist the gangs and armed individuals during the state of emergency. It should also be said that the unit itself was near one of Vlorë’s peripheral neighborhoods, which at that very time managed to protect the fuel depots as well; these were set on fire twice during the emergency period. Sources, who do not appear to identify themselves, tell the newspaper that the soldiers there were stationed in the unit at the time and kept the unit’s movements secret until the new government was formed, since it contained important military materiel.

REPORTAGE

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