Old suspicions return: Were they produced by Iraq? Alarm over counterfeit dollars Panic among banks and private companies The counterfeit $100 bill cannot even be detected by checking devices TIRANA - Counterfeit dollars are causing confusion in the market. Unable to distinguish them with the naked eye or with devices that give a magnetic signal, banks have decided to refuse $100 bills belonging to the 1990–93 series. It is said that for three months a considerable quantity of counterfeit dollars has been entering the country from Saddam’s land, bearing 69 of the dollar’s 70 security features. The Bank of Albania has been informed about this problem, but has not issued any warning to the public. The Savings Bank has not yet officially issued such an order, but bankers do not rule out this possibility. For now, the serial number of every dollar accepted is being recorded. Verification can only be carried out at foreign banks. Airline agencies are in a difficult position over the suspected bills. Banks will not comment to them, while the agencies will not accept them from customers. Tourist agencies, meanwhile, are asking banks for protection. “If they can’t tell them apart, how can we?” On page 6

ELBASAN / Terror in the city center Bomb at the Municipality: Three people injured Among them, a child ELBASAN - A bomb at Elbasan Municipality. The afternoon was bloodied in the city on the boundary between Central and Southern Albania. Three people were injured, including an 11-year-old, who was more seriously hurt than the others. The incident took place at around 16:45 at the southern corner of the city Municipality, on the side facing the library. On page 7

SPECIAL TIRANA - Friendly relations and underlying tensions, periods of aggravation and partial détente, border incidents and the...

TEPELENË

Program on Canale 5 Teodor Keko Yesterday at noon, Italian Channel 5 spoke about Albania. It was Mr. Zgarbi who presented before ... the language, the stance, the race, when viewed through racist eyes by the brutality and when I am being broken down by CAOFAN-edition ...

LAST NIGHT IN TIRANA TIRANA - Explosion in the center of the capital. Flames broke out at a café very close to the Italo-Albanian Bank. Meanwhile, large police forces arrived at the scene and...

Gelbard meets Nano: Violence is unacceptable to anyone TIRANA - “The KLA is a product of Belgrade.” Without the slightest doubt, Clinton’s special envoy for the Kosovo crisis has rejected the theory of Albanian terrorism in Kosovo. Robert Gelbard, US President Clinton’s special envoy to mediate a solution to the Kosovo crisis, confirmed yesterday that the US government would work to achieve expanded status for Kosovo within the borders of Yugoslavia. On page 2 Mourning the latest person killed in Kosovo (Photo: REUTERS)

TIRANA - Friendly relations and tensions at the same time, periods of friction and partial détente, border incidents and ambassadors being summoned. This has been the history of Tirana-Belgrade relations over the past ten years. But what has happened behind the unseen face of the diplomatic offices in the two capitals? Mirosllav Sako, the man who covered Yugoslavia and Kosovo for ten years at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recounts the mysteries of relations between the two capitals. The Belgrade Conference and the Mamil-Lonçar meeting. What happened during the 1981 student revolts in Kosovo, and why did Tirana launch an unprecedented offensive at the time? On page 9

Yesterday at noon, Italian Channel 5 spoke about the Albanians. the Albanians. It was an attempt to present the viewers in its country with a different image of Albania, through the voice of our renowned soprano Kozeta and the refined folk song, so dear to us. From the voice of the “criminals” suddenly came our human spirit, among whom she was now serving; came the kindness of our grandmothers, came the tears of our parents. The human being who lives within us and was keeping us alive came through! This man, a HUMAN BEING, who dares to show his country that the blame does not lie with the criminal, is Mr. Zgarbi. As a journalist and an Albanian, I was moved to tears as I followed the course of the truth, and I regret that my state lets itself be abandoned to fate, allows itself to be violated and publicly humiliated, which it chose for no reason other than political expediency, while an Italian public figure, virtually unknown to our state, tells the truth about us as if he were Albanian! In any case, the above is the problem of our “adherents.” Returning to Mr. Zgarbi’s program, we must thank him, on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Albanians who live honestly in Italy and who are insulted, rejoice, die, when they see the case through the eyes of one of the viewers of this madhouse, by the CAOAFANs indoctrinated by the ignorance and racism of certain Italian Maoist individuals. Mr. Zgarbi’s voice can be heard, despite all the noise around him, because it is a realistic voice and because he has said that he knows how to distinguish people from a drum; but we do not need just one spontaneous individual. We must convince the world—not Mr. Zgarbi—that we are human beings, that we love life! For what he is doing for the Albanian people, Mr. Zgarbi deserves a monument in Albania. He has put around us very well the Latin proverb: “Cesante causa cessat effectus” (when the cause ceases, the effect ceases). Mr. Zgarbi loves us, values us and wants the action—the relations between our two peoples—not to cease. Someone who does not cut off the flow of your water loves you! It is our tradition to love those who love us. If there are no squares or schools to name after Zgarbi, then let one of those many Albanian or foreign names be removed—names of people who have done nothing for this country except perhaps some favor that got them “up there.” In any case, Mr. Zgarbi has a monument among us: the sacred word THANK YOU!

TIRANA - Explosion in the center of the capital. Flames broke out at a café very close to the Italo-Albanian Bank. TIRANA - large police forces arrived at the scene and, accompanied by firefighters, managed to put out the fire. It was the second time the surrounding area had been affected, as just a few minutes earlier a bomb threat had been reported at the cafés in that area. It was not yet 21:30 when, for the second time in a row, numerous blue uniforms completely surrounded the area, from Café Europa all the way to INSIG. Three bomb alerts in the space of an hour had prompted all the emergency teams to rush out the first time. Meanwhile, no explosives were found anywhere in the area. The second time, an explosion had occurred, but not from explosives: it was caused by two gas cylinders. The urgency with which the police arrived this time was justified. Fortunately, it was not what had been feared. Apart from material damage, there were no casualties. Meanwhile, residents were terrified by the flames, which reached up to the fourth floor, reminding them of February ’96, when explosives were planted at VEFA. er.di

THE VILLAGERS SCRATCH THEIR HEADS Albanian chickens “go crazy” Now there’s a rooster with four legs ELBASAN - And the wonders never cease. After the twin births, it is now the birds’ turn to perform some of their familiar tricks. It is not a toy or a scientific experiment, but it is true, and many people have seen it with their own eyes; in fact, one of Elbasan’s private television stations, ETV, broadcast a program featuring an unusual rooster as its main subject. “Another wonder on display, and a half-chick that knows no Guinness Book record,” says [the passage is unclear]. It seems that now it is very necessary to ask foreign visitors during the morning. In the village of Katund i Ri in Elbasan, a rooster with four legs has been living for a year. Its “parents” swear that they would not hand it over to anyone, no matter how large the offer. “Something like this is considered good luck, and there’s no reason for us to let it out of our hands,” said Nexhmije Çollaku, the woman with whom the rooster has spent its life among the poultry. The golden rooster has its other two legs beside its wings. They move without difficulty, but cannot touch the ground. “It is quite possible that the egg had two yolks; this caused the rooster with four legs to be born,” its owner said. “I vaccinated it and cuddled it on the head every day like my own child; surely something good will come to us from this rooster,” she said, dismissing an offer that had come from Italy. A son of an emigrant, returning from across the Adriatic a few years ago [?], had told its owner the story of the four-legged rooster, and the latter was ready to pay three million lek to make it his own, but Çollaku did not accept the sum. “We won’t give it away, no matter how large the amount of money,” she says. The story of the half-rooster from the fairy tale seems to have had its second episode in this village in Elbasan, but now everything is real: its “owners” have decided to sell tickets to anyone who wants to see the latest marvel of the bird world. To dispel, or perhaps reduce, the curiosity-seekers’ doubts, the woman of the house tells us that a few days ago a hen hatched that held one wing raised in the shape of a greeting, but it died very soon. “We hope our unusual rooster will live a long time; we’re giving it every kind of care,” she concluded. It seems that after the mule that unexpectedly gave birth to its own young two years ago in a village in Elbasan, and the sheep that gave birth to five lambs at once in a village in Mat, the latest wonder in Elbasan opens up a bright path for Albania. Now its name can travel around the world not only as the country of unrest, but also as the country of animals so content that they start producing wonders from birth.

What should we do when a $100 bill comes into our hands? Which points should we check: the change in color, the rougher areas and other special markings... On page 6

On page 12 Gelbard meets Nano: Violence must not be imposed on anyone They consume in the square while

On page 5

We return 20 Kurds to get 100 Albanians On page 5