Euphoria erupts among the Democratic leaders We will win 75% of the votes Yesterday, at the PD National Council meeting, the President declared President Berisha delayed yesterday’s PD meeting by 40 minutes. Mrs. Berisha herself, together with the members of the PD National Council, waited from 10:00 a.m., seated in their chairs, for the arrival of the PD chairman and President Berisha at 10:40. The meeting began with Berisha’s own speech, in which for 45 minutes he presented to the party’s National Council the government’s achievements and the reasons for the opposition’s failure in the upcoming elections. According to Berisha, the PD’s biggest enemy in the upcoming elections is the alliance between the PS and PAD. But the surprise of the meeting was the statement by the PD Secretary General Tritan Shehu. “We will win 75%,” he declared yesterday. One of the Council members retorted from his seat, saying: “If voting is held in this hall, we can even win 100 percent.” page 3

The political anatomy of Albanian emigration For the first time, authentic documents from the 1944-1954 period In the State Department archive there are several studies on wartime Albania. In one of them, prepared by people from the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) in August-September 1944, it was written that Balli Kombëtar “is now collaborating shamefully with the Germans, and is so closely tied to the Quisling Government that it is almost impossible to make any distinction between them” page 6-7

Today President Sali Berisha, together with his wife, leaves for a three-day visit to the People’s Republic of China. The delegation also includes Deputy Prime Minister Dashamir Shehi, MP Mitro Çela and Bashkim Zeneli. In Beijing, Berisha will meet with the Chinese President, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. The main topic of the talks is expected to be the 35 million dollar debt that Albania has owed China since 1978. They are also expected to discuss bilateral economic relations between the two countries. We will provide detailed information about the visit through our correspondent in Beijing, editor-in-chief Aleksandër Frangaj.

Alarm in the government: A special fund is opened for the purchase of wheat Bakery owners demand an urgent price increase Alarm in the government: A special fund is opened for the purchase of wheat Yesterday 6 bakeries in the capital closed their doors, while many others have changed direction, not producing bread for the population. “The bread crisis has been felt in Tirana for several days. You have to go around to several bakeries to find bread,” says a citizen. Meanwhile, the bakery owners, who have been facing difficulties for two months, claim that these measures are forced by the rise in the price of flour on the world market. The government has allocated 6 million USD for the purchase of wheat, which is expected to arrive urgently from Romania and Macedonia. However, even yesterday, bread merchants asked the government to raise the ceiling price for bread sold to Albanians, since the price of flour has also risen, threatening a one-day strike across all Tirana. page 2

The lawsuit over “Anti-genocide” returns The opposition’s request will be examined on 17 January page 2

Tender for guarding the Greek border page 2

TIRANA - An unusual story of sexual violence. The systematic rapist A. Bika, 23, had deceived a 14-year-old girl and then raped her in his house. Moreover, during her days with him he kept her isolated and subjected to abuse for 3 months in a row. And he was not satisfied with that alone; even after letting her go for a short time, he tried to abduct her by force from her home. Only after this act did the girl - who previously, out of fear and because of that same denunciation, had not made a report - go to the police. The latter, on the basis of this report, handcuffed the rapist, while in support of this Martin Deda decided to arrest him and place him in prison.

NOW ALSO IN THE MORNING FROM TIRANA With the trains from Bari, by the afternoon You are everywhere in Italy. The whole journey BY PLANE AND TRAIN ROUND TRIP around 29,900 lire Tel&Fax: 27306