The old debate over the heads of the Constitutional Court returns. Should Gjata go or stay? Meidani against Parliament “Gjata cannot be dismissed quite so easily” Dispute between the two institutions following the Bezhani Commission’s report Sources close to Bezhani specify that signals from the Presidency were against dismissing Gjata solely on the basis of the commission’s findings President Meidani TIRANA - The Gjata issue is provoking a conflict between Parliament, the President and the Bezhani Commission. Sources from the Commission for the Verification of Figures report that signals from the Presidency have been against dismissing the head of the Constitutional Court. For this reason, Parliament has hesitated to make a final decision regarding the president of the Constitutional Court. The session on Gjata’s dismissal was cancelled after the OSCE Ambassador in Tirana, Everts, intervened with Bezhani, and even the President of the Republic did so, confidential sources close to Bezhani report. “The President’s arguments are based on the fact that the head of the Constitutional Court cannot be dismissed solely on the grounds that he is in breach of the Law on the Verification of Figures,” sources close to the Commission for the Verification of Figures told Gazeta Shqiptare. In light of these signals, Parliament has not yet decided on dismissing the head of the Constitutional Court, despite threats by the Speaker of Parliament, Skënder Gjinushi. Nevertheless, the head of the Commission for the Verification of Figures is in constant talks with the government to find a compromise formula for carrying out Gjata’s dismissal. The fact that Gjata continues to exercise all his functions at the Constitutional Court even though the 15-day deadline in Bezhani’s ultimatum has passed shows that the arguments of the Verification coalition for his possible dismissal have not been accepted. On page 2

Albanians make a racket in Djibouti, too They wanted to set fire to the sheikh’s villa TIRANA - Albanian oddities never cease, even in the most remote corners of the globe. Five Albanians tried to set fire to the super-villa of a sheikh in the Kingdom of Djibouti. The incident caused quite a stir among the inhabitants of the small country, especially when they learned of the Albanians’ excessive audacity and their anger toward a sheikh. The incident happened a few days ago, in the evening. For reasons that are still unclear, five Albanians tried to set fire to a sheikh, one of the wealthiest men in the country. As they attempted to commit the criminal act, they were spotted by guards and, after a not particularly long pursuit, were caught without putting up much resistance. A little later, they were arrested by the competent authorities. Sources speak of a dispute between the Albanians and the sheikh over work. It seems the wealthy man had promised at the outset to employ the Albanians, who had been wandering around the kingdom for some time without settling in any fixed place. It is not known under what circumstances the incident between the migrants and the sheikh occurred, or how the latter had promised them jobs. In any case, the initial promises did not hold, and the sheikh turned the Albanians away. It seemed everything would end there, but the wealthy man of Djibouti had not reckoned with Albanian revenge, which forgives nothing. Without regard for the place, the circumstances or other dangers, the group of Albanians began looking for where the sheikh’s villa was and made their plan. They managed to get close and, using makeshift means, started the first flames. At that moment they were spotted by the guards, who took off after them. The five did not get far in their escape. The Albanians were caught, and now two serious charges hang over them. The avengers have been put in the local prison, and justice in Djibouti is expected to deal with them soon, with severe penalties provided for. Their situation is made even worse by the flimsy motive and the attack on an influential sheikh. Roland Zili

PRISTINA Mass protest against violence On page 2

PODGORICA Montenegro also concerned On page 2

KUKES Over 50 refugees cross the border On page 2

FIER Gang uncovered

TIRANA Tozaj: Here’s how

They were heading to Italy

CONSTITUTION / New condition from the PD to remove Godo

ELBASAN Today, the Summer Day festival ELBASAN—Like every holiday, Summer Day has its own ritual. It is divided into these stages: Summer Night, on March 13; Summer Day morning, on March 14; the Summer Picnic, on March 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Preparations for Summer Night begin well in advance in Elbasan. Many days beforehand, people buy the food and the “heavy” pastries, such as walnuts, fig leaves, quinces, pomegranates, etc., and especially the turkey, which is fed with shuka bread (flour kneaded into a lump with oil), as well as olives and corn kernels. On page 4

Photograph of the Parliament chamber with members of parliament in session.

They were heading to Italy TIRANA — Thirty Kurds were stopped on a secondary road in Kakavijë, near the border with Albania. The group, which also included many women, was being led by an Albanian police officer who had taken 800 marks per person in exchange for helping them cross into Albanian territory. The Kurds were to be taken to Vlorë and then on to Italy. They were held for several hours at the Albanian customs post and, after the procedures had been completed, were handed over to the Greek police. Only two of the Kurds had their documents in order, while the others were trying to take advantage of the darkness and achieve their aim of crossing the sea. The Kurds are returning to Albania once again. Following the major influxes that affected almost the whole of 1996 and then 1997, yesterday Kakavijë saw a record number of arrests for the first months of this year. On page 5

CONSTITUTION / New condition from the PD CONSTITUTION / the Commission, but Godo must leave TIRANA — The PD wants Godo’s head. Sources close to the Union for Democracy have said that the Democrats will join the constitutional commission on the condition that one of its co-chairs be a representative of the Democratic Party. This is one of the strongest conditions the Democrats have put forward for some time, both in European institutions and at other private meetings. It is not known why they have set their sights on Godo’s chair rather than Imami’s. Sabri Godo On page 6

TIRANA - The famous March aircraft returns to base. After a full year of “rest” in the hangars of the Italian airfield at Galatina, the Mig that fled during the turmoil of Albania’s disastrous year returned to its homeland two days ago. The Albanian pilots sent specifically to take delivery of the aircraft were accompanied on the return journey by three Italian “colleagues” as far as the edge of our territorial waters. Meanwhile, the two pilots who took the Mig to Italy last March, Agron Dajçi and Ardian Elezi, will continue their stay in Italy. It was March 4 when the Italian air base at Galatina was startled by the silhouette of an aircraft that had arrived undetected from Albania. [The following sentence is garbled in the source.] In Albania, the wind carried the scent of war. As if all that were not enough, two Albanian pilots put the finishing touch on the tumult by fleeing their burning country and making public the order they had been given to bomb the civilian population in rebel areas. Italian television channels were full of news in those days about the Mig coming from the war, its name sounding as imposing as that of some frightening, unknown weapon. But the Albanian Mig was in fact an obsolete military aircraft that had managed to evade the base’s radar only after flying for several hours almost skimming the surface of the water. There was a great commotion at the Italian base at the time over how the Albanian aircraft had managed to cross the entire Adriatic and then land at the military base without being detected by any radar. The two pilots requested political asylum as soon as they got out of the aircraft and, apart from a few brief statements, said nothing more about how they had decided to escape. After being thoroughly inspected by the Italian authorities, the Albanian Mig was shut away in a hangar reserved at the military airfield, and took off from there only a year later. Its return will assist the investigations that have begun into the events connected with March.

FIER The violent gang uncovered Seven people have terrorized citizens for a long time On page 7

TIRANA Tozaj: Here is how private stations should pay On page 9

Following the controversy over violence On page 11

[The source begins mid-word:] …[?] with their flight from the burning country and the publication of