Prosecutor’s Office: We have evidence of smuggling All customs-clearance documents under review. Customs officers reported TIRANA - The Prosecutor’s Office is preparing to strike hard at smuggling. Very soon, all the documents—mostly statistical in nature—relating to customs clearance will also be included in the investigation. The letter is expected to be sent during the week, while studying the material offers great hope of clarifying many circumstances in specific cases. “As part of the general framework of the fight against smuggling, we will also investigate the customs-clearance documents held by the Ministry of Finance. This is a normal action and serves the investigation being conducted by the investigative team handling smuggling cases,” the head of the Albanian investigation told Gazeta Shqiptare yesterday. Meanwhile, 30 people have been arrested in just three districts, two of them customs officers. How much merchandise has been cleared through customs? How many cigarettes, fuels, household electrical goods have evaded duties, and where? The collapse during the months of unrest allowed a great deal of smuggled goods to enter Albania, and today it is difficult to obtain concrete evidence. Dozens of customs officers have been reported. The Tax Police have not filed a single complaint. Fest ’97 Special On page 4

“None of the 4 members of the gang who killed the Ballsh police officers was previously released by the Prosecutor’s Office. It is misinformation” TIRANA - Was the Prosecutor’s Office implicated in the Ballsh incident? It is merely misinformation. This is the response of the head of the Prosecutor’s Office to the accusations made by Interior Minister Neritan Ceka. Yesterday, President Meidani also summoned the Prosecutor General, Arben Rakipi, to a meeting in person to seek clarification about the case. And although the President’s concern was very great, it was clarified that none of the bandits had been released beforehand. On page 8

Legends through the years depart for good TIRANA - Kola and Minga will say farewell to football on Thursday. A symbolic encounter between the Tirana side of the 1980s and the national team of that same period will bring their football careers to a close. It will be more of an exhibition match, to be played at Qemal Stafa Stadium. In Italy, Inter can feel Juventus’ day drawing very near. Udinese, which is now in third place, is also enjoying a good run. Minga On page 7

Doubts and speculation at the central headquarters TIRANA - The PS is in a dilemma after the Conference. Should the party be subject to a diktat or not? Two days after the end of the conference of the largest party in government, its members spent much of yesterday discussing the clash between Pëllumbi and party leader Nano. Rumblings in the party headquarters’ corridors say that Nano’s people attacking those at the top of their careers is a bid to impose an iron hand over the Party. Other socialists say that if the Party continues along this line, it will once again lose its vitality and tire out its members and activists. Yesterday, too, Pëllumbi renewed his attack on Nano, reminding him that the PS will continue to move in this direction if the hard line is not abandoned. Photo: Nano On page 2

Rain won’t let up in Tirana: The capital is flooded Flooding in the city of Lezhë TIRANA - Yesterday, Tirana residents had it like Venetians. The downpour made it impossible to bring this about with the rain arriving. In a single night, the streets lost their distinction from the Lana, while yesterday morning exceeded all forecasts, dumping tons and tons of hail from the threatening sky onto the heads of the capital’s residents. The rooftops turned white as after the first snowfall, while [unclear] under the curbs, and [unclear] broken pieces [unclear]. Ten in the morning was a veritable hell. The cloudburst made it clear to the capital’s residents that they need not mourn being far from Venice and its watery streets. Mud engulfed the outskirts, while the murky waters left nothing wanting even on streets very close to the centre. Tirana managed, even on a chaotic rainy day, to turn into a lake, so now there is no reason not to aspire to perfection in this respect, when rain falls abundantly and the streets are just right for it. Although the television channels said yesterday that rain and storms were expected, no one thought to warn people that the streets would become rivers. After all, these are things one knows. It is clear that even when light rain is forecast on TV, it is a good idea to take a lifebuoy along. Car drivers were in a better mood than ever yesterday, demonstrating it with shameful drives through the streams, raising enormous waves in the puddles beside the pavements, where people were trying to cross the river without getting wet, jumping from stone to stone regardless of age. so.sha

LEZHË On page 5

TIRANA On page 5

TIRANA - Milutinoviç, elected president of the Republic of Serbia. He managed to gather 58.65 percent of the votes, compared with 38.14 percent received by the other candidate, Sheqerlaj. But the most important thing for him is that the number of voters was higher than in the previous election campaign, making the election results valid. The other Serbian opposition parties, apart from the Socialist and Radical parties, as well as 1.2 million Kosovo Albanians, boycotted the elections. The Serbs did so because they consider them inconsistent with their ideals of democracy, while the Albanians considered them elections of a foreign state. Thus, the head of the Serbian state will be Milosevic’s right-hand man, the current president of what remains of the former Yugoslav republic. The other candidate, the Radical Šešelj, is regarded by the International Committee as a real problem for the region’s fragile stability. Šešelj has declared that he will not respect the Dayton Agreement. Meanwhile, Serbia’s current president, Milutinoviç, considers Kosovo an internal matter and says the International Community should not intervene.

SHKODËR - “We have identified the bandits who shot at us on Saturday.” SHKODËR - “We have identified the bandits who shot at us on Saturday. Searches are being organized by the Police of the [district?]/deputy police director, who was wounded on Saturday evening, told Gazeta Shqiptare on the night of the clash with five armed men who wanted to rob a police car. The incident took place late on Saturday in one of Shkodër’s main neighbourhoods. Shkodër Police Station On page 5

What shall we do on the night of wonders? Golden rules for enjoying the winter holidays as much as possible, while spending little On page 6