The mysterious story of the pilot shot down while photographing Pasha Liman TIRANA - If he were still alive, today Italian colonel and pilot Oscar Shilke would be 91 years old. But if he were still alive, as his family continues to hope, the pilot might still be in Albania, where he was captured by the Albanian army in deep secrecy on October 13, 1951, and then held prisoner for many years without any information being given about what had become of him. On that October morning, 47 years ago, Shilke was flying aboard a “P38” spy plane belonging to the Italian military air force on a secret mission over Albania. The mission’s objective: to photograph the naval bases at Pashë Liman, which were being built by the Russians. But Albanian anti-aircraft guns spotted him and, after opening fire, the plane was shot down. Pilot Shilke was captured wounded. It is a story that has never been told and that for many years was kept secret on both sides of the Adriatic. The Albanian side has remained silent, and to this day the Italian side says nothing, while the Italian side had declared that Shilke died over the Adriatic Sea during a training exercise. On page 10

Near Durrës and Shëngjin, the warships of the U.S. Marines This is how the KLA lives in Albania Among the people seeking to liberate Kosovo Nearly 40 NATO bombers ready for Milošević The atmosphere in the Tropoja district continues to be lifeless. Only, in front of the Municipality, one no longer sees groups of mujahideen so often. Nevertheless, the same requests for telephone calls continue to be made at the telephone exchange. The authorities gather every day for the staff meeting, but from 18:00 they have reduced its hours to 16 because of the World Cup matches. The mayor of Old Tropoja municipality, Isa Demia, says that for now the problem is achieving final stabilization. The mujahideen say that in recent nights they have been given foam mattresses to sleep on, while there are more in the municipal warehouse. The chairman of the district council, Xhevdet Hoxha, speaks of an almost complete shortage of some basic food items, such as flour, sugar, eggs, etc. Meanwhile, tomorrow 40 NATO bombers will arrive. On pages 2–4 A NATO bomber ready for missions in Albania (Photo: ANSA)

NAPOLON ROSHI Apparently, it is in our genes that, before we have properly opened our eyes in the morning, we ask: What is the world saying about us today? We saturate ourselves with other people’s programs in the Albanian language, where from beginning to end they talk only about international involvement, about Albania’s destiny; we saturate ourselves with radio and television magazines, piles of meetings and farewells for envoys, he said, I said. When, unwittingly, we change channels and hear or see that other radio and television stations talk a lot about the Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict, the India-Pakistan dispute, demonstrations in Nigeria ... we reproach them for failing to understand that Europe’s fate and more are also at stake here. It does not even occur to me to downplay the role of the international factor. On the contrary, in order to engage this international factor, it is high time we began the new day with the question: What are we doing for our country? So that others will weigh us fairly, we should become a little more determined to make our country an attractive investment destination, a construction site full of work, and a tourist paradise. There are other possibilities. Long ago, the great Konica wrote that there was room in Albanian lands for 20 million people to work and live. All that is required is to make the state a real state, with a police force that strikes with the authority given to it by law, with courts where justice ceases to be a foreign word; with politicians who remember to speak sometimes other than at campaign rallies. If we want to be somebody in the eyes of others, we should try to become like them. We should always bear in mind that in democratic countries everywhere there is rotation, there are government and opposition, and there is vigorous parliamentary debate. But there is something special, enduring and shared—the pillar of national policy. No politician, no political force plays with this pillar or manipulates it to gain political capital. I have the impression that we can expect little from others if

TRITAN SHEHU Fate and history have placed Albania in Europe not only geographically, but have also inextricably linked it to that part of civilization called the West. In our history, we have indeed benefited several times from this geopolitical entity, but we have also often made sacrifices for it, convinced that in doing so we were contributing to our country. Thus, we have often viewed our identity and our nationalism within the intriguing concepts of those times, reaching their peak in the period of Skanderbeg. Nevertheless, this role and orientation have not always been properly understood by the West, although they have always remained profoundly so, and nothing could prevent them—not isolation, not war and long occupations, not conversions or religious divisions in their sense. It was in 1991–92, after a long silence, that the West began to become aware of Albania’s position, realistically opening the way to our dream of modern European integration. For the first time, we saw the United States and all the EU countries in unison regarding Albania. This came as a result of geopolitics and of our clear stance in favor of democracy and Western integration. No one can deny that this path of integration is desirable. This is connected with the more than 50 years that have passed, with the fact that Albanian democracy is young, with our economic and social reality, and with the fact that the national question has still not been resolved. But fortunately, the most positive factor is Albanians’ strong sentiment against becoming captive to these things, and their ability to recognize that the path of integration is the way forward; that our values will also bring an end to the historical injustices done to us, even though historically we have been far removed from xenophobic ideas and solutions, and have stood against cosmopolitanism and anti-integration. Knowing how to convey and make these characteristics known is the principal duty not only of diplomacy, but of all of us, especially now that the resolution of the national question has entered a new phase. This has become an absolute necessity now that all of us are beginning to understand Milošević’s true purpose and his dishonesty, which are linked to his ideological foundations, namely communism and u-

The atmosphere in the Tropoja district continues to be lifeless.

FRANCE '98 WORLD CUP SPECIAL SPAIN BEATS ITSELF The Africans demolish the Iberians. Mexico triumphs over the South Koreans, but the Dutch can do nothing against the “Red Devils” On pages 13–15 From the Netherlands-Belgium match, 0–0 (Photo: ANSA)

Commission head: “I will name them in Parliament” MARCH UNREST / “They too are guilty, like the Democrats” Ngjela opposes the report he himself read in Parliament. Convinced that he merely played the role of an expert, the lawyer says that such a report is worthless. “It is a one-sided account that can be accepted only for the political purposes of those in power,” the lawyer said yesterday, without budging from his comfortable position that both sides were involved in the unrest: the opposition as well as those who ran the state. “If the aim had been to publish individual responsibilities, another list could also have been drawn up with names of people from the former opposition who were involved,” the lawyer said, refusing to make public the names he has and which emerged during the period when he investigated the state’s main institutions, including SHIK, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defence. On page 5

Shotguns take aim at strays TIRANË - Tirana woke up today with several dozen fewer stray dogs. The nocturnal adventures to eliminate them on Tirana’s streets have now begun. The general operation to eliminate stray dogs began last night, On page 6

On page 5

NATO bombers ready for missions in Albania (Photo: ANSA)

Today, two more installments of the France '98 Encyclopedia: Denmark and Spain Today Two more installments of the France '98 Encyclopedia Denmark and Spain

“We were left without water again this summer” SHKODËR - The director of the Water Supply Enterprise for Shkodër, Engjell Gjondrekaj, does not hesitate to make public the fact that this summer the shortage of drinking water will be greater than last year. On page 7 VLORË GAZETTE Quarrel over voter lists VLORË - The battle over the local voter lists has begun. The Union for Democracy has made the first accusations of manipulation of the electoral lists. According to this political grouping, there are about eight thousand voter names missing for the local elections in Vlorë. On page 8 DURRËS GAZETTE KESH threatens to plunge the city into darkness DURRËS - KESH is threatening to plunge the city into darkness. If, by the end of June, all private and state-owned companies, as well as all Durrës residents who do not pay for the electricity they consume, fail to pay, their power will be cut off for a long time. “Pay so that we can help you.” On page 9