KLOSI DENOUNCES On page 20

THE SEAL SCANDAL On page 15

THE ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT DECIDES: WE WILL STRIKE HARD IF THE SERBS ATTACK US Dritëro Agolli: Let us arm the Kosovars THE ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT DECIDES: WE WILL STRIKE HARD IF THE SERBS ATTACK US PS and PD join forces with the KLA Dritëro Agolli: Let us arm the Kosovars Majko and Berisha extend their hands for Kosovo “The sick woman of the Balkans” and the delusions of some Koçi: Fortify security at the border Serbs attempt to abduct the corpses Belgrade: OSCE man “persona non grata” On pages 3-4-5-6

VLORË Sentenced to death for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter, his mother-in-law, two brothers returning from Italy, and a police officer. The Vlora Court of First Instance has handed down the death sentence. During all four hearings, there was not a single moment when the court could grasp... On page 18

DOSSIER The beginnings of the formation of criminal organizations in the Balkan Peninsula. How and why Albania became a center for money laundering, trafficking in illegal migrants, arms trafficking, and prostitution. All through the lens of the French journalist On pages 12-13

IN SARANDË “The Greeks are accomplices of the smuggling ship that was intercepted off the coast of Sarandë after unloading hundreds of tons of clandestine migrants.” This was the sensational claim made by one of the criminal investigation officers, a claim that has helped, to some extent, to unravel the mystery of the latest trafficking operation in the South. On page 19

In recent days, Albanian public opinion—and not only Albanian public opinion—has been deeply shaken by the Serb massacre in Raçak, one of the ugliest and most barbaric acts that can be committed today on our continent, and one that once again shows how vile and unacceptable is that ultranationalist and ultrareligious ideology that pits populations or particular groups within them against one another. And this came immediately after the bold yet equally malicious statement by Serbia’s foreign minister, from a country that could rightly be called “the sick woman of the Balkans.” One of the most impartial scholars of Balkan history says: “So far, this history is full of evidence of extremely cruel acts, not only against equal rivals, but also against defenseless individuals, defeated opponents or prisoners... Often these atrocities have not been directed only against people responsible for unjust or brutal acts, but rather against civilians, who have had no means of defending themselves.” The terrorist methods and the latest massacre against the Albanian population once again prove how little has changed— Continued on page 2

Photo H. Pustina