War of accusations between the sides Hajdari’s security (Photo: Plator Ilo) TIRANA - A battle of statements and positions over the events in Laç. The Albanian state and political figures rushed yesterday into the arena of contradictory statements and positions. “It was an attempt by Hajdari and his escort to provoke a serious incident with the police.” This was the position taken by Interior Minister Neritan Ceka, which he presented yesterday during the plenary session of Parliament. But yesterday the opposition also offered its version: “an attempt to wipe out my family,” said DP MP Hajdari. According to him, the facts and everything else point to an attempt by the state to carry out another assassination attempt against him and his family. But Ceka went further, raising the possibility that Yugoslav secret services were involved, having infiltrated certain segments of politics that are financed by them. On pages 2–3

The four giants of Pasha Liman are now scrap metal After the looting, there is no hope for the old base, reduced to ruins According to naval specialists, 500 million USD are needed to bring it back to life SECRET IMAGES The “secret” photos of the destroyed base, which the Military Police wanted to suppress VLORË - “There is no other way: the submarines will be sold by the kilo. They have been left like this for many years, abandoned and without any maintenance; now nothing can save them.” The man telling us the bitter news is in tears. “Ah, boys, I wish you hadn’t reminded me of these stories,” he adds, then tells us his own story. More than twenty years of his life were spent on the submarines and ships of Pasha Liman, once a glorious base that no longer exists. “What will become of the famous base? The people who should still have been supported by the factories and the fleet are living there. Lifeless submarines at Pasha Liman (Photo: Hektor Pustina) On page 9

TIRANA On page 12

TRAGEDY AVERTED On page 7

LUSHNJE

Bezhani reveals shadows in the police force . Senior spies also in Çeka’s Ministry. TIRANA - Bezhani reveals senior spies also in the Ministry of Public Order. Yesterday, the Commission for the Verification of Figures disclosed the findings of its review of the Public Order Ministry. More than 1,600 employees of Çeka’s ministry were examined by the Commission. More than 10 officials and lower-level chiefs are said to have blemishes in their past. Bezhani did not choose to make their names public yesterday, but said he would wait for them to leave their posts within 15 days. On page 3

GJIROKASTËR/ Terror again in the South. TNT over the SP headquarters. Police: We know the perpetrator. GJIROKASTËR — Chaos again in the southern city, and once again everything reeks only of TNT. It was 03:55 yesterday when a powerful explosion, followed within two minutes by another just as powerful as the first, shook the city’s administrative center. The TNT charge had again been placed in the same spot as a month earlier, when the Socialist Party headquarters was blown up for the first time. Police confirm that they know the perpetrator and that he was shot at by police at the moment of the explosion, while witnesses say there had also been gunfire before the explosion occurred. Police carried out several searches of homes, but the DP accused them of mistreating its activists. On page 5. The SP headquarters blown up

The Journalists’ Association protests over “Bulevard.” TIRANË — The Journalists’ Association protests against the police’s violent takeover of the “Bulevard” newspaper building. A large number of police officers entered the courtyard of the Pioneers’ Palace, where the daily newspaper’s editorial office is also located, and demanded that it leave the premises. Meanwhile, editor-in-chief Bejdo Malo stated that everything had been done without any court ruling or enforcement order. At Zëri i Përmetit. The PAD headquarters is reportedly to be established in place of the newspaper’s editorial office. The Journalists’ Association appeals to the Albanian government and all its institutions to end the violence against the free press. On Monday, police attacked the Bulevard newspaper’s editorial office twice and demanded that its staff leave the building immediately. The Journalists’ Association also calls on all international institutions to urge the Albanian government to end the violence against the free press.

LUSHNJE. Police ambushed: Two dead. LUSHNJE — Battle between the police and the Karbunarë gang. The blue-uniformed officers were surrounded on one of the village roads and exchanged fire for several minutes. The van driver and one of the gang members were wounded. Hours later, special forces arrived from Vlora and Fier, along with other police units from the Fier and Lushnje police stations. Until the early hours of the morning, the law-enforcement forces took no action, citing limited visibility due to the darkness. On Sunday morning, 18 people suspected of carrying out the ambush were arrested and held in the cells at the Lushnje police station. On page 7

At the Brussels offices, a fax 9 meters long COMPLAINED ABOUT DEFENSE. Berisha breaks NATO record. A fax 9 meters long at the Brussels offices. TIRANË — Berisha breaks NATO’s record. A rather unusual fax from the Democratic leader arrived at the Brussels offices. Not because of its content or the words used, but because of its length. The fax was so long that NATO officials in Brussels gave up counting the words or pages and brought out a measuring tape. Berisha’s fax was a full nine meters long. In NATO’s 42-year history, the organization had never received a fax this long. The rope-like fax was addressed to the Secretary of State for Defense, Perikli Teta. The general had left for Brussels a few days earlier to discuss the needs of the Albanian army and cooperation between NATO and Albania. But before Teta, a “metakaf” arrived in Brussels to introduce him. From the DP offices in Tirana, a detailed account was sent of who the man arriving in Brussels was. Berisha described in words—which, judging by the length of the fax, must have been very detailed—how those who had destroyed the army during the previous March’s unrest had now taken charge of what remained of the Albanian army. A normal fax roll is 50 meters long. Berisha used up nearly one-fifth of a roll for the NATO offices. By a simple calculation, 30 sheets of standard paper were sent from the DP offices—practically an entire file—which required a full 9 meters of paper at the other end of the machine. It is not known whether the astonished Brussels officials will put the fax forward for inclusion in the “Guiness” book of records. Having broken every record within Albania, Berisha is now also a worthy contender for original records on the international stage. Since the day the DP went into opposition, Berisha has broken every record for the number of press conferences. In practice, journalists have lost count. What is known is that every other day, Sundays included, Berisha holds a press conference. Newspaper editorial offices have countless faxes from the DP, but in all fairness, it must be said that never before has a fax outside the normal parameters arrived within a single day.

The national team learns its Euro 2000 draw Hafizi: Not like this, it’s terrible On page 11 . The national team learns its Euro 2000 draw. Hafizi: Not like this, it’s terrible. On page 11