U.S. President Bill Clinton at his meeting with Vranicki: The parties’ pact must be respected. DP: The voting closing time will not change Page 3 Bombs against Nano in Mamurras; rally by the SP leader in Mirdita. OSCE Troika: Elections as scheduled

Yesterday, the Socialists and Nano also won the test of strength against the people in power, after the ambush set up in Mamurras failed. To avoid the worst, the Socialist leaders had turned back to Tirana, leaving many supporters waiting in vain at Zogu’s Bridge. But while this retreat might have been acceptable to the Socialist leaders, it could not be tolerated by the people of Mirdita, who are not used to “having the bride turned back on the road.” It was deeply humiliating for the young men of Mirdita, who seemed not to have forgotten the Kanun, according to which “you must not lay a hand on a guest.” Unable to bear this insult, the people of Mirdita set off toward Tirana, picked up Nano and the other Socialist leaders, bypassed the ambushes laid by DP supporters, held the announced rally in Mirdita and, in the end, escorted their guests safely back to Tirana. Alongside the Kanun, which Berisha liked to talk about so much but which he tramples underfoot every day with ambushes and other acts of treachery, yesterday’s action by the people of Mirdita was also a way of expressing protest against Berisha and his regime, which has become unjust not only in the south, which has declared him “persona non grata,” but also in the north, of which Mirdita is a part. Yesterday’s action by the people of Mirdita is a challenge to Berisha on a much greater scale than the south’s declaration that it will not let him set foot there. First of all, yesterday the people of Mirdita shattered Berisha’s propaganda myth that “the north is my concern” or “the north does not want the Socialists.” But the “breaking through” at Mamurras, more than being the result of support for the Socialists, was an expression of opposition to Berisha. In another respect, yesterday the young men of Mirdita also dealt a heavy blow to actions which, in the narrow interests of some individual, serve to divide the country into cantons and zones of influence. After this, Berisha must have understood that the strategy of organized ambushes against his opponents has now failed. If Berisha has managed to understand this after yesterday’s events, the victims of the tragedy in Berat will be the last. What the people of Mirdita did could just as well be done by other northerners who, following their example, cannot bear to be subjugated by a handful of people accustomed to shooting others in the back. This may also be because, historically, ever since the League of Prizren, Mirdita is said to have led the North. After Shehu was boycotted by the people of Kavaja a few days ago, what the people of Mirdita did yesterday made it clear that, for Berisha, Albania is becoming more and more a “land that burns.” By now, the only positive service he—once regarded as a “symbol of democracy”—can do for the country and all Albanians is to “surrender,” abandoning the methods of struggle that brought the country to this state. GAVROSH LEVONJA

“What Janina’s eyes have seen” “What Janina’s eyes have seen.” Photo: GENT SHKULLAKU

President Berisha decorates the controversial diplomat Page 4

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The OSCE shipment is unloaded at Rinas Page 3