THE “SEXY-GATE” SCANDAL / NEW FACTS FOLLOWING THE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST THE FORMER DEFENCE MINISTER TIRANA - The “Sexy-Gate” scandal involving former minister Brokaj is back. “I only wanted to visit that girl.” This is reportedly what the head of the army said, according to whom the accusations made against him are intended to smear him. But the Socialists at the PS headquarters do not share this view. According to the version circulating in the building, the Minister wanted to harass one of his employees. A few days ago, first Nano and then Majko dropped the big bombshell about their minister. But the very next day Brokaj himself responded sharply. “I will deal with these matters legally and, given the terminology used there, I am the one who should be making accusations.” The battle that has begun between Brokaj and the others appears to have taken a turn for the worse. A group of Socialists from Vlora have come to Tirana, wanting to establish the truth and hear Nano and Majko themselves on the matter. On page 2 Sabit Brokaj

Socialists from Vlora in Tirana TIRANA - A storm from Vlora over the health minister. “The most successful minister cannot be dismissed.” This is one of the messages from the seven members of the PS Executive Committee in the capital, who are outraged. The Socialist leaders from Vlora were received by Gramoz Ruçi, the iron-fisted man of the PS. On page 2

THE NEW GOVERNMENT / Only a quarter of the cabinet approved. Sharp reactions last night The President signs off only on Teta and Islami Blushi: Who will pay the damages? Majko: The PS vote is being abused THE NEW GOVERNMENT / Only a quarter of the cabinet approved. Sharp reactions last night Nano-Meidani: war breaks out The President signs off only on Teta and Islami Blushi: Who will pay the damages? Majko: The PS vote is being abused TIRANA - The Prime Minister’s Office strongly attacks Meidani. “The President is not letting us work. Be careful: a dangerous precedent is being created, one that poses a danger not only to Albania but also to Kosovo.” Ben Blushi, Nano’s spokesperson, strongly attacked the Head of State for blocking the names. “There has been no political or legal argument [in the text as printed: ‘për që’]—if he agrees with this mandate, he is obliged to accept the Prime Minister’s proposals as well,” says the statement drafted by Nano’s people late last night. The Prime Minister’s Office described it as Meanwhile, Meidani has called the partial decree appointing the new ministers fully justified and lawful, stating that Meidani decrees only two names in Nano’s new structure. Only in the evening did the President sign for Perikli Teta, accepting Çeka’s release from office, and also approve the new post Islami is taking in the “Nano 4” government. At the same time, the Head of State has [text ends] dangerous precedent is being created, one that poses a risk Nano’s spokesperson, has sharply attacked the Head of State for blocking the names. “No political or legal argument has been given for this action,” Blushi said. At an extraordinary meeting that lasted for hours at the Government’s headquarters, a position was formulated not only for Nano as Prime Minister, but also for the Socialist Party. Immediately after Meidani’s partial decree, Nano convened his close staff, including PS Secretary General Pandeli Majko. “The President has no right to block the Prime Minister’s proposals and partially decree changes to the Government,” is Nano’s position. “It can now be said with certainty that there is a conflict between the state’s two highest institutions—not a hidden one, but one that has erupted into the open in all its dimensions. “This is creating problems for the functioning of the government,” especially given the delicate state of the Albanian economy, but also in the event of a possible crisis in Kosovo.” The Government has asked Meidani to decree the names; otherwise, there will be an institutional crisis. “There is no need for excessive commentary here. “Meidani should give us the names,” the statement said; any other action is coercion by law and constitutes a dangerous precedent for democracy.” It seems that not only the delays, but also the blocking of some of the Government’s important names put forward by Nano, has prompted this latest sharp reaction. “The President still has the right to decree the Prime Minister’s mandate, and for as long as he has accepted the Prime Minister’s proposals,” The Prime Minister’s Office described “Nardhe, Meidani has acted entirely within the law in partially decreeing the new ministers,” expressing this view as Nano’s spokesperson’s position. “The President must understand that the government needs to work. But the Prime Minister cannot work with only the two ministers Meidani has decreed,” Ben Blushi told “Gazeta Shqiptare” last night. Nano’s spokesperson also recalled the situation beyond the borders and warned the state’s highest institution that there would be a bill to pay in the end. “The government must work; otherwise, an economic bill and a political bill will be incurred, not only for Albania, but also for Kosovo,” Blushi said. “I know who,” he continued, “must take responsibility for the government’s failure to function for 10 days.” This was a very harsh reaction from the Government, one that apparently nobody at the Presidency had expected. This unexpected exchange of words gives the impression that the battle between the two main institutions has now begun, resembling—apart from the outburst and the statements, but at a different time—the confrontation between Fino and Berisha in June ’97. And as then, perhaps now more than ever, the country needs calm and understanding between the parties, not hotheads. Perhaps the first response should come today, when Meidani is expected to sign the other names in order to prevent the conflict from continuing. But it is doubtful that the contest now developing between Nano and Meidani can be brought to an end this time either; judging by the intensity of the exchanges, it seems irreversible. Bledar Zagorjani APOLOGY TO THOSE INJURED IN MARCH

GAZETA of Shkodër SHKODËR - Perhaps only the court will settle the dispute between Telekom and the Municipal Enterprise. The latter filed a complaint a few days ago, submitting it to the district Prosecutor’s Office. The municipal authorities complain that Telekom, while laying its lines, “deliberately damaged” facilities under their care. On page 6

GAZETA of Vlora VLORË - Police officers in Vlora have been changed again. Following the arrival of the new Director, all the carabinieri have been reshuffled. This has caused dissatisfaction among the blue uniforms, while the two—

GAZETA of Vlora VLORË - Police officers in Vlora have been changed again. VLORË - arrival of the new Director, the heads of the two police stations have been reorganized. police second-in-command says the work of police officers should be respected, not their replacement. On page 7

GAZETA e Durrësit DURRES - Nano “lands” in Durrës together with his ministers. He meets with local government officials, describing cooperation between the Government and local government as very important. He then presents the projects for the city of Durrës, describing the city as strategic. On page 8

Resolution yesterday TIRANE - The Albanian Parliament returns to resolutions on Kosovo. The Foreign Policy Committee of the Albanian legislature presented a statement yesterday calling for the urgent intervention of the international community to put an end to the crisis in Kosovo. On page 12

TIRANE - The Ngjela Commission is experiencing its own disintegration. The alarm was sounded yesterday by one of the lawyer’s most opposition-minded members. Spartak Braho believes that the commission investigating the events of March, since its establishment, has fallen into utter misery, whose causes are the currents within it, as well as the many intrigues that work both to obstruct it and to paralyze it, until its final atrophy. “Everything is geared toward turning this Commission into a fictitious body.” On page 2

BERAT - Massacre within a family. A couple are wiped out after a trivial quarrel. Bullets from a 10-shot carbine hit the young wife and then were turned on the man who committed the crime: her husband. Murder and suicide over a few turkeys, leaving behind two orphaned minor children. It was an ordinary day, like all the others, for the Çili family in the village of Fushë-Peshtan, 16 kilometers east of the city of Berat. Liliana Çili, 27, was doing the housework as usual and at one point went out to look at the garden and the field in front of the house. On page 8

TIRANE - “We are not corrupt.” For about an hour, the courtyard in front of the Tirana University Hospital Center bore witness to a warning strike by hundreds of doctors and nurses. Organized by the Independent Health Union at QSUT, the strike was a protest against the words of Minister Sali Berisha on television, where it was said that medicine had become a hotbed of corruption. “Some doctors can only be distinguished from criminals by their masks,” Solis is quoted as having said, and for this reason around 400 doctors and nurses at Albania’s largest hospital center said “goodbye” to the Hippocratic Oath for an hour. On page 5

Competences are unclear TIRANE - The continuous renaming of ministries caused so much confusion that now their staff no longer know what their people’s work will be. The Ministry of Sciences and Births, together with mergers and divisions, the avoidance of excessive structures and the accommodation of political formulas, has left Albania to this day without clearly defined ministries. Throughout the governments of the past, during the period of pluralism, we have never had either the same number of ministries or the same names for them. From the “grafting” of the Ministry of Cooperation and Economic Development and Coordination of Foreign Aid with the Ministry of Trade and Tourism, the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Trade has recently emerged. Eremelinda Meksi will head the new department, but there is still no law or government decision specifying exactly what this Ministry will deal with. The employees of the former trade structure under Meksi know even less. “I have asked the chair of the Legal Affairs Committee, Fehmi Abdiu, for a law to be drafted in Parliament defining the duties of this department,” says the lawyer at the new Ministry. The Ministry of Trade On page 9

TIRANA - Amnesty for those who repented over the events of March 1997. Bank robbers or associates of gangs will be tried with reduced penalties if they provide information necessary for the investigation. Those arrested for involvement in various episodes involving dangerous gangs will not be investigated by prosecutors along the same lines. A considerable number of those accused of the robberies and crimes of last March may regain their freedom, of course after providing compensation for the damage caused. The robbers of last March–June will be the first Albanian penitents. Chief Prosecutor Rakipi, during a visit a few days ago to her native city in the South, announced a special legal mechanism for people who cooperate with Justice. During the March unrest in the South On page 4

The Italian visa “counter” at GAZETA SHQIPTARE The Italian visa “counter” at GAZETA SHQIPTARE Send your letters to: 370 Dibra St., Tirana The Italian Consul answers in the pages of “Gazeta Shqiptare” Italian visas: Here are new names The “Italian visa counter” is back today in the pages of “Gazeta Shqiptare”. Today we will publish a long list of the names of people who can collect their visa from the Consulate counter starting tomorrow. If your name is on this list, you should disregard the date on the receipt you received at the embassy, which may have a different date. To speed up the procedures, we advise you to go to the Consulate with the page of “Gazeta Shqiptare” showing your name, or with a photocopy of this newspaper. We hope to publish a new list tomorrow. On page 12