REACTION PROSECUTOR RAKIPI: BERISHA IS A DEFENDANT IN MY EYES On page 3

SCANDAL 15 months in a cell; they took him for the real criminal They were kept in a cell; the untried man was in prison On page 6

The World in 1998 From the Pope in Cuba to the Serbs in Kosovo, from Frank Sinatra’s passing to Clinton’s sex scandal, here are the year’s hottest events in ’98 On pages 12-13

OPINION Why hasn’t the U.S. embassy reopened? Vladimir BEJA It has been about four months since the American embassy in Tiranë closed its doors. Looking at this phenomenon simply in terms of the importance of its formal activity, issuing visas, and unable to “decipher” what connection the explosions at the two American embassies in African countries might have had with the closure of the office in Tiranë, the article “What lies behind the Americans’ departure?” was cut from Gazeta shqiptare, published in the newspaper Gazeta Shqiptare on September 4, 1998. Official statement: “A serious threat from Islamic fundamentalism; additional measures will be drawn up to increase its security”—the street to Elbasan was blocked for days over the matter. The Albanian Western press reported possible dates for its reopening. Sources among embassy staff claimed it would be the 13th, while another gave a final deadline for completion of the work; after that deadline also passed, there was silence again. So, since we have no right to ask what the real reasons are that the American embassy in Albania is not operating normally. Continued on page 2

Interference in the appointment of police chiefs: They are meddling in our affairs The Ministry of Public Order is being overrun by deputies. In recent days, rumors about a series of changes among prefecture chiefs and police station chiefs have been circulating, and the number of members of Parliament asking to meet Koçi or other police officials has increased. Ministry officials, facing the requests and pressures of these people, are sometimes forced to grant their wishes by appointing unsuitable people to key positions. On page 5