Hours of anxiety in Fier: 1 police officer killed, 3 injured Another blue uniform loses its life in Korçë. Bullets from a mysterious car The victim’s friends and colleagues take revenge. One of the civilians is returned dead The prefect, the police chiefs and local officials spent long hours mediating with the Cakran policemen, but everything was in vain Kordha: "Although irritated by the killing of their chief, the policemen should not have taken the law into their own hands" FIER - Bullets against the police. One killed and three injured among the blue uniforms, but also two of the men who fired at them, one of whom later died. Fear and panic covered yesterday morning in Fier and Patos. Subordinates of the slain chief forced their way into the hospital and took one of the people wounded during the clash. They took him by force to Cakran and released him in the late hours of the night, but by then he was dead. The prefect, police chiefs and local authorities went to the victim’s village to mediate with the angry policemen, while a large number of special forces arrived from Tirana in Fier. Two of the wounded policemen were taken by helicopter to Tirana Military Hospital, while the third continues to be in serious condition in the city hospital. The situation remains tense. Everything began yesterday morning in the center of Patos. A policeman exchanged words with several people - this is how eyewitnesses of the event report it - and then was punched by them. On page 5

SHKODER / The sky is ablaze SHKODER - New Year in the city of Kalashnikovs. A roar of gunfire crossed the sky at the moment of the year’s change in the northernmost city of the country. It has become customary for years to be welcomed and seen off with gunshots. This time what could be called a true honor should not have fallen on it at all, given the situation that had passed. Everything that characterized the custom went beyond normality. The shooting started about 10-15 minutes before the clock struck 00:00 and continued for another half hour after that. Not even the households, full to the brim, were enough for the Shkodran walls to come out and fire into the air. Apparently they had not had enough of gunfire "during the nights of war" or while standing at checkpoints. This time again, accompanied by these skies wounded, they pulled out the Kalashnikovs, which glittered as thousands of bullets rose into the sky. On page 3

Berisha: This year there is a solution. Tritan Shehu: This is a blunder Majko: "This is another of his absurdities" Berisha: This year there is a solution. Tritan Shehu: This is a blunder Elections, the big players on the field Majko: "This is another of his absurdities" TIRANE - PD and PS are again going head-to-head in the political battle. Sali Berisha declared yesterday that his party is seriously preparing for new elections and that ’98 will unquestionably be an election year. But yesterday he was sharply opposed by the socialists Majo. "This is the most irresponsible statement we have heard from his entire party." The first clash between the two heavyweights began in the first days of the new year. According to the Democratic leader, PD already has the new electoral law ready, and spring is the most opportune time for Albanians to go to the ballot boxes. But from PS comes a harsh stance. They should not even think about such a thing, socialist leaders replied, saying they see no kind of crisis or political vacuum. On page 2 Majko Berisha

SARANDE On page 5

KUKES On page 3

ATHINA CAPTURES THE SUPER-GANG On page 8

GOLEM / THE FIRST WONDER OF THE YEAR Children, swimming in the middle of winter GOLEM / THE FIRST WONDER OF THE YEAR Beach and prayer on January 1 Children, swimming in the middle of winter The cold weather certainly made muscles tense up through the body, and everyone knows that this is not good for health when it happens in the morning, especially when it is the first morning of the year. As if to ward off some evil eye, the dervishes recited a surah from the Quran and some other prayers, since they had never seen such a thing with their own eyes. So, if the saying according to which throughout the year you do what you did on its first day is true, then in Golem there will be only things of this kind all year long: people bathing in the sea without caring about the climate and dervishes singing prayers while muscles go through the body. A separate attraction for Albanian tourism, which has always needed curiosity and perhaps something else. But apparently these things do not fit together here, because if it were really like that then throughout 1997 Albanians would have thrown only fireworks into the sky, just as they did on the first day of the disastrous year we have just passed. In any case, on one side the little people of Golem asked, in a typically playful way, to vent their joy for the arrivals of the year without fear or restraint. A few clerics and some rows of writing in the press were scandalized, but it was still something different from the killings and bloodshed for which Albanians are increasingly known, both in the prayers of believers and on the pages of newspapers. GOLEM - "Allah Allah" on January 1. There were several children who had decided to start the new year with a swim on an ordinarily cold day, which made the dervishes who were fasting in a lodge near the seashore in Golem put their hands on their heads. Years change on January 1, both sides knew that, but the dervishes certainly knew even better something else: that winter remains winter even when it passes from one year to the next. And this made them astonished when they saw some teenagers jumping from the top of the rock into the icy waters of the January sea. To

"It consists of dozens of people in three districts" TIRANE - The terrorist super-banda of the South is uncovered. Prosecutors and police officers have managed to find evidence implicating at least dozens of people, involved in a single gang. This gang, with such a wide reach, operated not only in Gjirokastër, but also in the other two districts in the south of the country, sources from the General Prosecutor’s Office said yesterday. The lists of the persons for whom there is evidence have been prepared; very soon it is expected that the special forces as well as the local police will begin mass arrests of the persons marked in the network. Codalja, the first name has meanwhile been given, as an arrest two days earlier, when 7 people were detained. The total number of detainees reaches 18 people, while 9 were arrested first. For the others, the Court is expected today to confirm the arrest measure. Yesterday in the General Prosecutor’s Office the case of this gang, which has been transferred to the center, was analyzed urgently. "This is done because the same group has been assessed as being of very special importance," prosecution sources said. According to the sources, the super-banda is believed to be responsible for bank robberies and many important institutions, as a kind of "This is in the same region in the country, it had perfect organization and we can say we are facing a typical organized crime," prosecution chiefs said yesterday. On page 3

The winning numbers of the draw dated 1 January 1998 of NATIONAL TELE-BINGO. The draw cards were issued in 120 series, from No. 81 to series No. 200 First prize LINJA worth 5,000 lek was won by ticket No. 200 First prize MINI-BINGO worth 30,000 lek was won by ticket No. 1799 First prize STAI-BINGO worth 100,000 lek was won by ticket No. 1799 with series No. 160 First prize MAGIC-BINGO worth 2,000,000 lek was won by ticket No. 1799 with series No. 184 First prize TELE-EXTRA-BINGO worth 10,000,000 lek was won by ticket No. 1793 with series No. 87 The company announces that for next week it has put another 100 series on the market, from series 201 to 300. The weekly prizes are: Linja prize 5,000 lek Mini Bingo prize 30,000 lek Star Bingo prize 400,000 lek Magic Bingo prize 700,000 lek Tele-Bingo prize 4,000,000 lek HEAD OFFICE OF NATIONAL TELE BINGO, (Palace of Culture, Tirana)

EUROPE NEAR YOU! YOU CAN EXPERIENCE AND ENJOY A PART OF IT IN THE MOST MODERN RESTAURANT IN TIRANA Address: Annex of the stadium: S. Stërmasi", Near PTT 8, Tiranë. Not only an announcement