Midnight operation. 100 new marines for Lino TIRANA - Marines land in Tirana to protect the American embassy. In the early hours of yesterday morning, military helicopters brought in around 100 marines, while the cruiser “Aizenhauer” in the Adriatic landed five thousand armored troops in Durrës. This entire contingent has been concentrated at the American residence in Sauk to ensure its protection. Meanwhile, the day before, the Albanian police doubled the guards at the U.S. embassy, which had been sold out, on Rruga e Elbasanit. All these measures were taken immediately after threats by the number two official in the Yugoslav Government to punish the NATO alliance countries and those that had supported the air strike against Belgrade. On page 4

Check the invalid serial numbers On page 12

NORWAY-ALBANIA 2:2 The national team: 88 minutes and a dream that fades Bushi and Tare score, Strakosha prevents defeat; disappointment, but also money On pages 11-12 ANDI BEJTJA EDMOND LAÇI The problem is not a football match, which, after all, is expected to end with a Norwegian victory. That is not the disappointment. Nor does the disappointment lie in the football itself, one imagines, or in the coach, the players, or the referee, whom Albanians may complain about tomorrow. The story begins when the Norway-Albania score is 0-2 to Albania and there are 8 minutes left. All Albanians, wherever they may be, know these minutes, unfortunately, or feared that they did not know—or feared that Albania did not know. It seems the problem has nothing to do with this game, but with the whole history and psychology of the Albanian nation. Kadareja has always written of a thesis according to which this country is cursed and its fate was written somewhere, so that it would never end in victory. In eight minutes, not only Norway equalized, but Millosheviç too, who with the massacres of recent months had begun the punishment with a defeat. All Albanians are now certain, in the end, that everything is because of NATO; regardless of its serious and optimistic promises, we will say no more. And as always, carrying this fatalism inside us, we applaud when we see Eurolex-...

The battle over the Socialist secretaries. Nano attacks Meta and Majko The PS isolates Nano The Chairman’s opponents begin to emerge TIRANA - The new KPD elections weaken Nano. Among the newly elected trio of secretaries—Dade, Legisi, Zela—it is striking that none can be considered a candidate or a person close to the PS chairman. But it was not the KPD that decided to weaken the former prime minister’s position. Earlier, at the PS leadership meeting, Nano’s difficulty in imposing his people at the head of the PS had become apparent. The leadership meeting was the starting point for the PS’s marathon meetings to elect new secretaries. While Majko and Uliksini were absent, there was no shortage of internal debate in the leadership, which came down to a clash between Nano and Meta. On page 3

The Kosovo Pact: Someone is lying

. A truly sincere signal, and not at all spiteful, perhaps for the first time in the recent history of relations between the free press and the Albanian state, has finally arrived from the Ministry of Education. Deputy Minister Hafizi herself acknowledged yesterday, in a statement sent to the Gazette’s editorial office, that the article entitled “Student lists are being manipulated” helped correct some violations in this department. We truly want to say to Ms. Hafizi: Thank you for your understanding. Mimoza Hafizi* It is essential for the Ministry of Education and Science to clarify the truth about enrollment in higher-education institutions for the public, a pressing issue addressed in your article yesterday, “Student lists are being manipulated.” Although, during the admission competitions, many students applied to more than one department and, in the end, successful candidates could choose only one of them in which to enroll, on the final enrollment date, September 26, it turned out that there were unfilled places in every department of the universities and higher-education institutions. For this reason, October 3 was set as the final date, with vacant places to be filled according to the candidates’ ranking by points. However, for reasons beyond the choice of department, some places remained vacant even after enrollment on October 3. The Ministry of Education and Science, together with the universities and higher-education institutions, had anticipated this situation and, as early as October 1, decided to set October 5 as the final enrollment deadline. The information was regularly announced in the media, just as had been done with the other dates. Continued on page 5

Millosheviç’s promises do not match the demands and statements of the Contact Group On page 8

Nikovski: Enough with myths and history TIRANA — The Macedonian ambassador, Risto Nikovski, is a career diplomat. He arrived in Albania seven months ago, after successfully completing a mission at the same rank in London. “I feel at home in Albania. And that is an advantage. We have the same temperament, the same traditions. Professionally, however, the responsibility is great. On page 8

Illustrative image

Photograph of a vehicle near a building.

...when it showed the Alliance’s planes, perhaps with missiles. Indeed, even when Nano came to power after the June 29 elections, people felt that, however different he might be, he was not a long-term statesman but a temporary leader, just as they knew that electricity, water, or the money lost in the pyramid schemes would meet the same fate. Albania now needs a victory. It needs a victory, even if it is only in our purchase of ourselves to be overturned and to move the new things forward. It needs a victory to break the psychological barriers. A victory that will undo the “magic” or the “curse.” A victory that will make not only foreigners believe, but Albanians themselves, too. There must be someone—a person, an example, or a team—that has overcome this obstacle, because even when we overcome it temporarily, people still do not believe in us. And there is no way others can believe in us. After this whole repeated story, everyone may ask: how can we get out of this vicious circle? It is not only the National Team players and coach Hafizi who can tell us, but also Pandeli Majko, Sali Berisha, Fatos Nano, or Rexhep Mejdani. And, after all, we too must tell our story, as for the first time we are writing a different editorial.

The port: Europe has blocked construction On page 7 GAZETA e Shkodrës The depot is attacked: Police intervene On page 6

The people of the Theatre once again attack Minister Rama On page 10