Two IL-72 planes and an “Antonov” unload a cargo of banknotes that ends up on Mount Dajti. The Ministry of Finance has no knowledge of it Page 2 The Mezini Commission buys time to provide the candidates’ answers. Berisha in Fushë Krujë: few people, many guards. Foresti appointed in Brussels

Fatos Nano yesterday completed his first campaign tour as party leader since 1993, when he was arrested and imprisoned by the Albanian authorities. He chose the “rebel” circles of the South in particular to launch the election campaign, while at the same time choosing the safest way to appear on a rally platform. Thus, the socialist leader can consider his first test of charisma a success—a quality that his opponent Berisha has held onto fanatically for five years. The South reacted as expected to the visit of its “resident,” Fatos Nano, who spent more than two years in an isolated settlement among the mountains of Tepelenë. His return to this part of the country, this time without handcuffs, was also the ordinary return of a man who, it seems, from now on will ascend to the vacant pedestal of the political leader from southern Albania. In this regard, Nano can continue his visit to Greece at ease, because the people of Vlorë, Sarandë and Tepelenë have understood his visit and message as they should. Fatos Nano’s tour of the South was not merely an old debt owed to those who ultimately brought down Berisha’s regime, doing what his party had been unable to do for five years. The current political situation, with Tirana and the North geographically separated from the southern part of the country, demanded a clear and decisive stance from the SP and its leader. Nano’s campaign began precisely in the city of protests, Vlorë, signifying full solidarity with Vlorë’s role and four-month history in relation to the rest of the country. By joining those who in Tirana are often considered “rebels” and “terrorists,” Fatos Nano has finally extended his hand to that part of the Albanian people who consider President Berisha’s rule an obstacle that must be removed. As for the means by which this would be achieved, Nano and the people of Vlorë seemed to have found common ground: the 29 June vote against the DP and the president. In this light, it can be said that Fatos Nano’s visit contributed to Vlorë and, more generally, the districts of the South beginning to abide by the rules of an election campaign. Nano in the South, Mejdan[i] in the North. The former among the “rebels,” the latter in the part considered “Berisha’s.” This is how the SP has deployed its forces, trying to include the entire territory on its electoral map, which it now claims should extend across all of Albania. Nevertheless, the visit of the SP leader to the South may create some problems north of the Shkumbin. The current conflict between the DP and the rest of the parties has been distorted, as various voices have interpreted it as a regional confrontation. Nano’s descent into the South, while opposition leaders—including the prime minister—have not gone to the North, may leave a bitter taste in the mouths of northerners, who have yet to speak out. Mejdan’s presence, even with the help of the PSD leaders, may not make up for the absence of the socialists’ number-one leader. K.J

Nano and Gjinushi yesterday in Tepelenë. In the middle, Gjolek Malaj, chairman of the Rescue Committee. Photo: GENT SHKULLAKU

The SP leader concludes his election tour Page 7

All sales outlets for the newspapers “Koha Jonë” and “Sport Ekspres” in the districts that have not paid the proceeds from newspaper sales by 15 June are required to come to Tirana, to the editorial office, by 17 June 1997 to bring in the sales proceeds. Under the contract, the agency “KJ”’s drivers will collect the unsold newspapers after you have reconciled the accounts with the finance departments of “KJ” and “Sport Ekspres.” The “KJ” finance department will pay travel expenses as well as a per diem of 3,000 new lekë for each newspaper vendor. Otherwise, the newspapers’ editorial offices will stop supplying you and open new outlets in the respective cities. Finance departments of the newspapers “KJ” and “Sport Ekspres”