HISTORY THIS IS HOW THE REXHAJ FAMILY WANTED TO KILL RAMIZ ALIA On pages 12–13

THE LAW IS READY DEBTS, MAJKO ASKS 30,000 PEOPLE TO PAY UP On page 2

The woman’s death, a mystery at 313 On page 5

In Berisha’s footsteps “It is not a question of whether or not we will be there, but of how we should make the best possible use of our presence there.” Yesterday, the committee decided to recommend that the Government and Parliament determine the level of our representation at the meetings and activities of this organization. On page 3

Andi Bejtja The Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, led by Sabri Godo, yesterday approved a proposal to recommend to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government and the Parliament’s Presidium that relations with the Islamic Conference be conducted in accordance with the Constitution. This time, the question is not leaving the Conference, but, on the contrary, intensifying relations with it. All the committee members were reportedly of the opinion that participation in this conference is useful, but that it should be used differently than it was by Berisha. One of the committee members told Gazeta Shqiptare that during Berisha’s time, many suspicious individuals had entered Albania, later giving Tirana’s cooperation with this organization a bad image. Albania joined the Islamic Conference not through a vote by the Albanian Parliament, but through a special decree by former President Berisha. This hasty accession provoked a strong reaction among the Albanian opposition, while after the left-wing governing coalition came to power, talk arose that Albania would leave the Conference. The government of Prime Minister Fatos Nano did not emphasize this issue much and tried to address relations with Islamic countries not within the framework of this conference, but rather as bilateral relations. Meanwhile, the new Prime Minister Pandeli Majko, just a few days after taking office, said during a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that relations with this Conference should be reviewed in a new light, implying that accession to it was not a bad thing. Despite Majko’s message, it must be said that this idea was elaborated neither by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor by the Government. Both institutions largely adhered to the policy of good bilateral relations with Islamic countries. Continued on page 3

Nearly 4,000 young people from Durrës use drugs. This is the real figure, according to testimony from drug users themselves and several traffickers from Durrës. This figure represents around 10 percent of young people in Durrës, while in Tirana the estimate is approximately 1 to 2 percent, or around 200 drug users. On page 16

This is how the “pranks” will be prevented All anonymous calls to 19 will be answered. Recording equipment has been installed in the operations room to record all false bomb-threat calls. The anonymous voices will be documented, making it possible to identify the maniacs behind these alarms. More than a year after the operations rooms at the Tirana Directorate began operating, recording equipment was finally installed a few days ago. On page 6

THE AUCTION [O] More than half a billion lekë are coming out of taxpayers’ pockets because of the failed auction privatization of the Sugar Combine, the Tobacco and Cigarette Factory, the Mechanical Workshop and the Asbestos Products Factory. On page 7