Two freight trains wrecked after a control-system malfunction KAVAJË - The tracks are stained with blood. An engine driver has died and four others have been injured after a violent train collision in a village not far from Kavajë. The train carrying coal to Elbasan struck the one carrying gravel, which had just come from Rrogozhina, leaving no possibility of avoiding the collision. The impact was so powerful that six other wagons had piled onto one of the locomotives, making it difficult to extract the victims from the heap of twisted metal. Up to 4:30 p.m., police forces had been unable to recover the only person who died, the engine driver Mihal Myzyri, while the four other injured people were sent to Elbasan. After the front and rear [parts were removed?], the collision occurred because the lights on the control panel went out and no signal was given to the trains to proceed. On page 4

PR leader: I’m not interested in uniting the big parties Godo talks about his secret meetings with Berisha, Islami and Meidani. Godo recounts his secret meetings with Berisha, Islami and Meidani. “There is no mystery; Berisha and I talked about Kosovo and the constitution.” Sabri Godo, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy, agreed yesterday to reveal part of the mystery surrounding his recent meetings with PD chairman Sali Berisha, Nano’s deputy, Islami, and President Rexhep Meidani. Just one day earlier, Godo had said that he had a document concerning Berisha and would make no public comment. This further heightened suspicions about the unexpected meeting between the two opposition leaders. On page 3

Cyprus-Albania 3:2 One of the national team’s previous matches Hafizi’s boys fall apart, as always, in the final minutes. After taking a 2–0 lead, the Red and Blacks concede three goals at the end of the game. On page 11

After the explosion, a barrage of gunfire. Mystery surrounds the perpetrators of the horrific crime The building is demolished. Religious leaders: They want division Police: Pure terrorism against the faithful THE PROSECUTOR OF ZANIT SPEAKS SHKODËR - TNT and terror blow up the Orthodox church. A powerful explosion rocked the city center at dawn yesterday—a half-kilogram of explosives reduced most of the Orthodox premises to rubble. There were no casualties, but sources at the Ministry of Public Order said that it was a blatant act against the religion and its people. Meanwhile, accusations and counteraccusations have begun between political camps, at a time when all the city’s religious communities have described the attack on the church as the work of elements seeking to divide a people characterized by religious harmony, as Albania is. The local branch of the Democratic Party, meanwhile, has blamed Serbian terrorist circles for the explosion, saying they want to foment unrest in the north of the country. Tale. In the end, we have been overcome by it and by the end, one another, ourselves. Then we leave. In an event, metamorphosis. Absurd and merciless. We forgot what we said. On the street, a simple conversation: a friend with the head of customs, who is paid cash to let smuggled goods through; elsewhere, in a court, someone tries to obtain property that does not belong to them. And we “keep quiet.” The paradox—we begin to admire the strongest, the most powerful, the biggest liar. Deep in our subconscious, we have made our wishes and plans at the table, about what this country could become. Now we are in the hands of reality, and reality silences us. It is difficult to put this problem before a court so easily, whereas it is easy to list the points like the theses of a doctorate. What our society suffers from is being conscious. The chaos we reflect is one sign of a lack of awareness, which is taking on increasingly catastrophic proportions. We still do not understand that so-called Albanian intellectuals need to be cured of opportunism, of selling themselves. They agreed that it could not be done, then became friends with someone they had been denouncing and insulting just an hour earlier at the table, solely because that person offered them “a party of my own,” a “job,” an honorarium, a share in a business, etc. They not only compromise their morals, but also leave no room or time to create positive examples for the future. They continue to destroy themselves and the generations to come, leaving this end in a vacuum devoid of positive examples. This inconsistency between these two actions—what is said and what is done—is one of the typical traits of groups of people who, without any [basis?] or prejudice, are called intellectuals. Civic passivity, lack of courage to tell the truth, hypocrisy and conformism leave these social groups with a table full of plans and promises for building a new Albania. In another sense, they are the ones who care most about society, because they take on a missing role and play it very badly. The Ministry of Public Order has Democratic Party has blamed Serbian terrorist circles for the explosion, which they say are seeking unrest in the north of the country. … Then our voice fades,

ELSA BALLAURI Agreeing to live in Albania is becoming a special way of thinking. The prolonged social and political insecurity, the faithful events that come as a result of fantastical, science-fiction-like ups and downs, the lack of trust in people and the now very long coexistence with spiritual conformism, as well as the current geographical instability, are gradually making Albanians think that there are so many strangers in this country that they should leave as soon as they get a little hot-headed, and evening makes us sentimental too. At last we have understood the homeland, street, a simple conversation between a friend and a customs official, who is paid to let smuggled goods through ...

Zani in Court The Terrifying Ones of Vlora Get Ready for Trial On page 2

GAZETA e Tiranës TIRANA - Fines for traders remain only on paper. Nothing has made its way into the institutions’ coffers anywhere, although the past few months have been months of penalties for business owners. A total of 120 administrative penalties have been imposed in the drinking-water sector and on flour-trading businesses alone. And in the few places where they have been collected, everything has happened in violation of the law. There is still no coordination between the entities that impose these penalties and those that are supposed to collect them. On page 5

GAZETA e Durrësit DURRES - The coalition of Durrës’ governing parties is calling for the reform targeting people involved in crime in the state and local administrations to be intensified. At a meeting of party representatives, delegates from the political forces currently in government appear to have brought their own progress to an end as well. After a pause of nearly half a month, these parties have finally sat down at the negotiating table. The initiative came from the leadership of the Socialist Party of Durrës, to discuss the problems that have recently arisen with their fellow members of the governing coalition. On page 7

GAZETA e Shkodrës SHKODER - The municipality allocates funds for the city’s emergencies. Water, privatization, and culture topped the list. The wood-processing enterprise “Legnivor,” “Sherer Moda,” and the Shoe Factory were joint-capital enterprises until March of last year, and at its meeting the Shkodër Municipal Council finally approved their privatization, with around 100 percent of the ownership to be transferred. The city’s water emergency and water supply system were also added to the municipal agenda, and 310 thousand lekë were allocated to them. On page 6

“Muslims should be careful” “Holy Altar” is the name of the terrorist organization that has claimed responsibility for planting the bombs that exploded simultaneously in two African capitals the other day. Its blasts near the U.S. embassies killed more than 100 people and injured thousands more. “Holy Altar” is a branch of Jihad that yesterday claimed responsibility for the bombings targeting American citizens. “We apologize to the victims’ families. Our aim was to take revenge against the Americans,” the terrorist organization said in a statement. In the same statement, it made clear that its attacks against American citizens would continue. The statement appeared in the Arabic daily “Al Hayat.” According to their statement, the aim of the explosions was to strike against the Americans. But of the victims in the tragic events, only 14 were American citizens.