Arapi: The courts would begin proceedings Government-Company meeting fails. Alimucaj: We’ll meet somewhere else The long-awaited “clash” is postponed once again. The State goes on the offensive TIRANA - As for VEFA, which so strongly opposed the administrators, the courts will begin bankruptcy proceedings. After the meeting, which Alimucaj did not attend, chief administrator Farudin Arapi said: “The court will begin bankruptcy proceedings, based on creditors’ lawsuits over the unilateral breach of contracts.” Yesterday was the last day to open a window for dialogue in the VEFA-Government conflict. After the deadline for VEFA to accept the administrators expired, Arapi will file a complaint with the prosecutor’s office today against VEFA’s president and its chief executive. “Alivucaj and Limaj have violated Article 235 of the Criminal Code, since they have obstructed the implementation of a government decision,” Arapi said. Alimucaj justified his failure to attend the meeting scheduled for yesterday at 6 p.m. at the Prime Minister’s Office with a fax sent to Arapi. “I agree to meet with you and Malaj, but the meeting should be confidential and should not take place at the Prime Minister’s Office.” A turning point in relations between the Government and the Company. Alimucaj initially agrees to the meeting, but then changes his mind... On page 3 Super-controller Arapi responds: There will be no more meetings. From now on, only the legal route will be pursued VEFA creditors waiting outside the company’s service counters (Photo: Plator Ilo)

Rugova: Dialogue is fine, but they should ask us too The first reactions NANO Milošević TIRANA - Nano really did meet Milošević, but this seems to have left a bitter taste in Kosovo. The Albanian Prime Minister and the Serbian President sat down together after so many years in the history of relations between the two countries, and managed to talk—at a first meeting, which is no small thing—about the delicate issue of Kosovo. Milošević used the word “minority,” while Nano spoke in terms of the “Albanian national community.” Nevertheless, a not very positive reaction immediately came from Pristina’s senior leaders and politicians. Rugova said it was their right to meet with another state, but, according to him, when Kosovo is discussed, its own representatives must also be present. On page 2

THE OTRANTO VICTIMS

Prosecutor’s Office asks: Were people in power involved?

Elbasan

Yesterday in Gjirokastër

FIER On page 6

ELBASAN On page 6

FOOTBALL From the “Tirana”-“Vllaznia” match, 1:2 Tirana: Sponsor-club dispute On page 7

Prosecutor’s Office asks: People in positions of power implicated? TIRANA - The Albanian secret services and the intelligence service have joined forces in the fight against smuggling. A letter from the head of SHIR, sent to the General Prosecutor’s Office, calls for mutual cooperation against illegal activity. In the meantime, SHIK has been the body that alerted the investigative institution to various people involved in smuggling, including people in positions of power. But it has never accused anyone or focused on a person from the state hierarchy, bringing them before the law. “It has been impossible to break through the mud,” say sources at the General Prosecutor’s Office. Meanwhile, the investigative body itself has asked SHIK and the Police to inspect certain sections within their own organizations which, under the guise of inspection, were involved in smuggling high-value goods. On page 4 Smuggling fuel on Lake Shkodër

ELBASAN - Police find 300 automatic rifles hidden in a tunnel near the village of Bradashesh. - Police find 300 automatic rifles hidden in a tunnel near the village of Bradashesh. Ammunition was found with them. According to the head of Police Station Two, Agron Roka, they had been hidden in a concealed compartment. “The villagers thought they could sell them after the new law came into force.” An anonymous phone call had revealed where the weapons were hidden. A local police team managed to transport the weapons to the station first. “This is the largest quantity we have seized,” the police chief confirmed. On page 6

Yesterday in Gjirokastër TIRANA - “Will local government be blocked? Then there will be new elections.” This is the warning issued by Albanian Deputy Prime Minister Bashkim Fino in Gjirokastër, during an event organized by the PS in the city. Fino had been invited by the local branch and, besides sharing the experience he had gained in Tirana, also heard strong criticism from this forum of the PS leaders. The failure to change the structures and personnel in the state administration, the appointment of some senior local officials in Gjirokastër on the basis of personal connections, and the neglect of their appeals and requests to the Socialist leadership in the capital were among the most sensitive points raised at the PS meeting in the southern city. Fino said in Gjirokastër that at the major conference of the Socialists in December, there would be substantial changes to the party’s program and statute. On page 3

YESTERDAY AFTERNOON IN TIRANA TIRANA — A killing by the hospital wall. And once again, an automatic rifle has taken the life of a young man from the capital. The killers, who had lain in wait behind the wall, fled quickly, while the police have yet to confirm either their capture or even their identities. [Unclear in the source: “Përgjegjës të trotuarit fare pranë hyrjes kryesore të spitalit civil të Tiranës.”] Yesterday, at around 16:30, unknown armed individuals opened fire, killing 26-year-old E. Isaku, a resident of Neighborhood 10. He had just parted company with some of his friends. The killers’ trail continued as he crossed the intersection and then walked along the left-hand sidewalk of the road towards Kinostudio. But he had gone no more than 30 metres when two bullets struck him in the neck, inflicting serious wounds. The bullets passed almost directly over the head of the traffic police officer who is always stationed at this intersection. Immediately, after the initial panic, bystanders gave the victim first aid and took him to the surgical emergency department of Hospital No. 2. But it was all in vain. The young man, E.I., died before he could reach the hands of the medical staff. Officers on standby from Police Station No. 1 soon arrived at the scene, and some of them set off in pursuit of the perpetrator. It is thought that two people carried out the attack. Behind the wall, on the side facing the civil hospital, the weapon used in the crime was found abandoned, along with a magazine and a bag. The killers may have escaped through the hospital grounds, disappearing among the apartment blocks on the other side. Car and city-bus traffic was halted while the judicial police officer examined the crime scene. The prosecutor on duty also arrived and documented the physical evidence. The police have not yet provided any information about the motive for the crime. But it is clear that the attack was planned and that the killers had carefully calculated the ambush. p.r.e.

VEFA creditors waiting in front of the company’s counters (Photo: Plator Ilo) On page 3 VICTIMS OF OTRANTO Holidays in Italy delay the searches On page 5