KAVAJË - An anti-smuggling operation on the coast of Kavajë and Durrës. Large numbers of police officers searched the entire area for many hours, from Pishat e Buta to Shkëmbi i Kavajës. Around 30 people were detained and then taken to the police station; they were all citizens from these areas and were suspects. “There is no way one of the 30 suspects can escape again, especially right next to the places from which the clandestine speedboats set off,” police sources said. Among those detained was a person carrying a TT pistol without a permit. Eight vehicles were also detained and, together with their owners, are undergoing further checks. Police sources said yesterday that checks are being carried out on vehicle drivers, in whose rooms people wishing to leave by speedboat are said to be sheltered.

Thompson submachine guns have flown to Portugal. The “Top-secret” operation TIRANA - Albanian weapons have flown to Portugal, too. P-84 submachine guns, which were produced in series for four years and [unclear: “kombinimin e Policisë”], in addition to serving Italy’s Mafia organizations, also served Marxist-Leninist groups. One of them signed in Albania for the receipt of a quantity of submachine guns, which were nothing other than imitations of the famous American Thompson, but, of course, at a much lower cost. The Albanian seller’s profit was enormous, while, in order to keep the operation secret, the submachine guns were manufactured at several enterprises. Former [unclear: “such enterprises”] were involved in producing components, such as assembled parts, in one of the Police departments. All figures in the contracts and their signing were kept secret. The workers had no idea where the weapons were going. Although the P-84 caused great fear because of the poor quality of its steel, none of them dared to speak; that would have been tantamount to going to prison.

Enver Hoxha at the 7th Congress of the PPSH

FROM ALBANIA On page 7 FROM ALBANIA Kalashnikov trafficking for the Mafia On page 7

SHKODËR On page 5 SHKODËR One quintal of drugs headed for Montenegro On page 5

VLORË On page 7 VLORË Murder exposes visa gang On page 7

The much-discussed report. “The agents had no business there” TIRANA - Ngjela “reveals” those responsible for the Albanian tragedy of 1997. The chairman of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the period of unrest at the beginning of last year reported yesterday to the MPs for the first time on the progress of his investigation and that of the commission’s eight other members. But Ngjela’s lengthy speech contained no names or specific accusations, which angered the Socialist parliamentarians. They requested that Ngjela’s report be more specific, but the lawyer maintained that the investigations carried out so far did not allow him to say more than that. Nevertheless, Ngjela requested that several former senior officials of the nomenklatura of the previous regime appear before the commission to be questioned by it. Spartak Ngjela’s standard report passed without any particular emotion in Parliament yesterday evening. The chairman of the inquiry into last year’s events stressed that, based on an assessment of the documents, former President Berisha and Parliament could have prevented the tragedy. According to Ngjela, the way to do so would have been through the resignation of the Meksi 2 government and the announcement of new early elections. “The crisis began with the 1996 elections,” Ngjela said, adding that the revolution erupted among people without resources, as with the pyramid schemes. Ngjela said the way to do so would have been through the resignation of the Meksi 2 government and the announcement of new early elections. “The crisis began with the 1996 elections,” he said, adding that the revolution erupted among people without resources, as with the pyramid schemes. On page 12

Malaj and Arapi fly to Belgium TIRANA - The fate of the five finance companies that have entered the transition process will be decided in Brussels. Malaj, Arapi and other senior officials of the Ministry of Finance will fly to the Belgian capital on 17 February to discuss with the IMF and the World Bank which companies should be liquidated and which will move to the second phase of the transparency process, that of financial auditing. Although it had initially been planned that the final report by “Deloitte & Touche”, containing recommendations and conclusions on what should be done with the finance companies, would be discussed by the Government, it will not be made public before it has first been discussed with the two organizations most interested in the progress of transparency in Albania. According to the chief administrator of “Deloitte & Touche”, at least the companies should be liquidated, but carefully, in order to avoid panic. Pyramid-scheme protests

ELBASAN - The man who had wounded five police officers has been detained. - The man who had wounded five police officers has been detained. Gazmend Çerçani was captured in the city following an operation by police forces. He had been wanted. “He is accused in connection with the incident of 23 August,” police sources said. Another person, previously specially trained, had been imprisoned in the capital, but [the rest of this passage is unclear in the source]. It seems that the uniformed officers [unclear] have acted in the area to capture the wanted man.

Economy TIRANA - The year ’98 has begun with prices almost 45 percent higher than those of last January. According to statistics published by INSTAT, compared with December ’97, prices have risen by 3.4 percent. Meat, vegetables, fruit and tobacco have become more expensive than anything else. [The source text concerning meat prices is garbled:] meat prices have risen by 9 percent, while meat has cost 55 percent less.

Today in Tirana ELBASAN - A protest by military personnel dismissed from their jobs will take place in the streets of Tirana. At least 100 people will arrive today by bus from Elbasan to protest in the streets of the capital. Carrying banners, they will join other military personnel from various Albanian cities. The gathering, scheduled for eight in the morning, is expected to turn into a march toward government buildings.

TIRANA - “We can exterminate the dogs only when they come on their own.” The municipal brigade for catching dogs can carry out its work without problems only at the capital’s rubbish collection points, Mayor Brojka said yesterday when asked about the worsening problem of stray dogs and cats. The municipality has people who are paid to deal with dogs, but “their necessary extermination still cannot be carried out on a large scale in the streets of Tirana. Who would be the policeman who wouldn’t be afraid in the dark of a man wandering around with dogs on his shoulders and who sometimes sets his dogs on people, and which police patrol wouldn’t be mistaken for a gang of masked men if it came across the brigade at night?” the mayor said. Scenes and evidence of the “execution” of barking strays can take place only on the outskirts, where rubbish is collected. The dogs of Tirana, and the packs of dogs, can be lured away by trickery. According to Brojka, that is where the dogs are killed and buried on the spot by the brigade. Previously, the people assigned to periodically kill dogs brought the victims’ ears as proof of their work, but apparently everything now ends with burying these animals, whose numbers have in fact increased even more because of the circumstances. Collecting the dog packs has become exceedingly difficult as their numbers have grown unchecked recently. Indeed, it is strange, and hardly believable, how they have multiplied and become accustomed to our reality, as citizens have reported repeated encounters between people and dogs. But what is strange is how dogs, which roam our dusty streets, remain clever animals, [the remainder of the sentence is garbled in the source]. [Photo of a dog]

Operation on the coast Thompson submachine guns have flown to Portugal. The “Top-secret” operation