Zogaj attacks: “Prime Minister, don’t touch our ‘corrupt ...[?]’” [?] Vlora speedboat operators issue an ultim[?]... to the Prime Minister: Don’t touch our “corrupt ...[?]” Zogaj attacks: “...a is very tolerant” TIRANA - Zogaj harshly attacks Nano. “The corrupt directors were appointed by the Prime Minister,” PD Secretary-General said yesterday, following criticism of Public Order at the meeting of the Commi[?]... on Security[?]. Zogaj says Teta is very tolerant in putting compromised people[?]... in positions of responsibility. VLORA - Vlora speedboat operators issue an ultimatum to Nano. “The Prime Minister and all the other politicians should think carefully before laying a hand on our speedboats,” said those present, almost all of them among the “older” speedboat operators from Vlora. According to the operators, if the trafficking is hit, then the economy of the southern city of Vlora itself will also be hit. On page 3 On page 7 Preç Zogaj

Complaint by the Prosec[?] for fraud involving a camera bought by the Party Shaban Memia detained PD deputy accused of smuggling TIRANA - Shaban Memia is arrested. The Tirana Prosecutor’s Office detained in flagrante delicto, upon arrival[?], the Democratic Party deputy, on charges of evading customs duties. The detention took place near “Ishati Vaqar[r]”, by Tirana police forces as well as customs police. The first charge against Memia is precisely his failure to pay customs duties on a particular item, an accusation that could subsequently escalate into smuggling. The head of Customs explained yesterday upon arrival that Memia’s detention — he is currently a PD deputy in the People’s Assembly — was made in flagrante delicto for an offense presenting a high degree of dang[?]...

BELGRADE - “I support the development of d[?]... with the Albanians of Kosovo and believe that it should begin as soon as poss[?]...” This is what Milošević informed the United States of America yesterday. On page 4 THE PRESS MU[?]

GAZETTE of Tirana On page 5 GAZETTE of Durrës Truck carrying drugs seized On page 7 GAZETTE of Shkodër Water, epidemic alert On page 6

FATOS ÇOÇOLI A martyred people, denigrated by the unrestrained propaganda of a dictatorial regime, has entered the most delicate and defining phase of its history. The Kosovo tragedy unfolds like an epic upheaval, with pregnant women being shot, children and elderly people killed, places of worship desecrated, houses burned and destroyed by grenades; an entire land reduced to ashes. And while Kosovo burns and its sons are killed, representatives of the Albanian press speak of both sides in the war as two victims, of Arab fundamentalist terrorists igniting the conflict. No journalist or reporter covering events for the Albanian press has seen the tragedy with their own eyes, although offers from representatives of the KLA to accompany them into areas under their control have not been lacking. No journalist or reporter has ventured even as far as Tropojë to see the procession of Kosovo refugees, to hear from their own mouths about the barbarity of the Serbian military machine, to describe their suffering and hardship. Our public learns about the real situation in Kosovo through reports by journalists from CNN, BBC, CBS, etc.—that is, from foreign television and news networks. What a disgrace for the press of this country, and for the role it boasts of playing! Our press has still shown no initiative to raise money for the Kosovo cause, nor has any issue’s front page carried a large-print insert with a bank account number in Albania for financial contributions. The many foundations and associations in Albania are not taking any meaningful initiative for Kosovo. The press could have brought these organizations together by holding those responsible to account, but it too remains silent, indifferent to its own responsibility. If, in return for lacking the courage to face danger—including our press—there were articles and analyses that were objective and sympathetic toward Kosovo, appeals and awareness-raising among every section of the population, associations, etc., that would be half the battle. But our irresponsible, pampered, unprofessional press, rotten to its core, accepts articles in which the minds of numerous journalists or pseudo-columnists, guided by truth and the direction of alcohol and politicized desires, try to confuse and muddy with fundamentalist scenarios what is at once pure, romantic, and heroic: the struggle for the freedom of the Kosovo people. Our Albanian brothers in blood do not deserve such irresponsible treatment, not even in the pages of our daily press. If we are accustomed to denigrating people, blackening what is white, and manufacturing a scandal or revolt out of nothing, such distortions cannot be accepted in the Kosovo cause. In its mirror and tragedy, it calls for only one thing: respect for the national ideal. If you are unable to go into the field and write about the Kosovo tragedy in the language of the heart, pseudo-journalists of Albania, please be silent.

INTERVIEW / “I have not accused any Socialist MPs” TIRANA — “I have not attacked any MP,” says the Director General of Customs. Gëzim Bleta denies having told the newspaper of the party in power that “many MPs have asked me for favors.” “I don’t want to get involved in politics or the press at all. I have my own work to do. I am a technician, not a politician,” says Bleta. He confirms that he has received a letter from the Minister of Finance, asking him to take responsibility in response to the request from the PS parliamentary group to send the names of the MPs who asked for favors. “I will give my answer to the minister. I answer to him, not to the political parties,” says Bleta. The Director General acknowledges that “there is smuggling, but it exists in every country in the world.” He says he does not know how to explain the whole storm the PS parliamentary group has stirred up against him. “Nobody gives a damn about one person. At every customs post there is a service logbook. If someone is caught with cigarettes and the customs officers on duty say that I ordered them to be allowed through without paying the duty, then let them detain me,” says Bleta. He says the obsession with customs is such that “three quarters of Albanians want to become customs officers.” On page 2 Memia, Hajdari and Berisha

20 criminals from the Vlora gangs risk the death penalty Zani Çaus(h)i before the judges Together with Gaxhai’s and Kakami’s men TIRANA — The investigations into Zani have been completed. The two prosecutors have closed the year-long case files on Vlora’s three main gangs. Together with members of the Cole neighborhood gang, Gaxhai’s and Kakami’s associates will also sit in the dock. The investigators have charged them with gang-related crimes and committing crimes as members of the gangs, offenses that carry sentences ranging from life imprisonment to capital punishment. On page 4 Zani Çaus(h)i in court

FOOTBALL From the first week through the 34th, all the Serie A matches. For fans of the most beautiful championship in the world, the fixtures each week of the big teams On page 11