URA VAJGURORE/MASSACRE Former crime chief testifies Napalm against the 5 police officers On page 7 Meta: Thank You Clinton Clinton with Meta yesterday in Istanbul (Photo: Reuters)

Reportage By our correspondent in Prizren Alba Malltezi Albania is losing the “Kosovo” market. This is felt acutely and painfully in the desert-like emptiness that has taken over the Morini customs post in Kukës, in stark contrast to the 12-kilometre queues on the other side, at the Bllacë customs post in Macedonia. Over there, trucks carrying humanitarian aid, cars and vans belonging to Kosovars, and TIR trucks belonging to Albanian or foreign traders have been waiting for days to enter Kosovo. For more than two months now, everyone has chosen this route, even though it is long and has two customs posts. We return from Kosovo to Albania through Morini specifically to understand why Tirana, once again, is failing to hold on to what it gained through great effort and generosity during the Kosovo crisis. As we approach the Morini customs post,... Continued on page 9

“What will the 2000 budget bring us?” This project provides for securing the financial resources needed to fund an 8 percent increase in salaries and pensions, starting on 1 July 2000. An increase in expenditures is also envisaged... On page 4

Zogu: My villa for the Albanian state Leka Zogu has decided to give his residential villa in Johannesburg, South Africa, to the Albanian state to establish a consulate there.” This is what lawyer Vladimir Gërmenji, who is defending the claimant to the royal throne in court against the charge of “armed insurrection” on 3 July ’97, said. Speaking about Zogu’s preparations to return to his homeland, Gërmenji,... On page 6

Culture / Discovery at the Art Gallery There are reports that the painting was in the French consulate in Shkodër around 1920–30. After the consulate’s departure, it was taken and kept with great care by some family in Shkodër, whose members wished to remain anonymous when they sold the painting to the Art Gallery, shortly after the country’s liberation. At the same time, there are reports that the painting was found in the Palace of the Brigades. This palace had been very well furnished by the Italians (including with paintings brought from Italy—which are now kept in the Gallery), since the King’s lieutenant, Jakomoni, lived there. We know that the Italian royal family is called Savona, from Piedmont, and that the Duke of Burgundy was an unusual son-in-law. He was the fir[st] from the Bourbon family of France to marry a princess from Savoy.... On pages 12–13