Kasos Çooli The mission of the International Monetary Fund, based in the United States of America and monitoring our country's economy, held a series of meetings over the past two days with the Prime Minister of the Albanian government Pandeli Majko and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance. The reason for this mission is to review the fiscal situation in Albania for 1998, as well as to assess the country's economic performance within the framework of implementing the ECF program for Albania. More specifically, the IMF experts have begun to verify with Albanian institutions the implementation of the Albanian government's and the Ministry of Finance's programs to date, as well as economic indicators, among them the country's overall output and budget execution, at a time when the Albanian economy has been shaken by the end of business solvency. In the section concerning the living and working conditions of the population, raising incomes has been set as a priority, which has pushed the government to seek more revenue from its own sources. At the same time that the IMF is dealing with this issue, the World Bank has completed its mission in Albania. On page 7

In a review of the charges, the case against Fatos Nano and the chairman of the Socialist Party for abuse of office has failed, as justice is experiencing a crisis of legitimacy. The charges, which will receive more in-depth treatment with further explanations in tomorrow's issue, raise doubts about a predetermined verdict. In this context, the defendant Fatos Nano has requested verification of the procedures followed and has stated that the charges are politically motivated. Questions have also been raised regarding the role of the prosecution and the court in handling the evidence. According to the defense, there are inconsistencies in the documentation and a lack of the necessary elements to support the claims. The public debate has also been accompanied by numerous comments about the impact this case may have on the political climate and on the public's perception of justice. In some parts of the statements it is emphasized that the process has been one-sided and that procedural rights of the defense have been overlooked. On page 21

ICD ACCUSATION BERISHA WITHOUT A VISA IN MADRID, EUROPEAN DEMOCRATS: HE CHEATED On page 3

Dritan Llunda

Court: We want the victim's photo On page 5