He arrives in Tirana from Vienna on Sunday, the former President exiled for 10 months Check at Rinas: Escape remains a mystery; his passport had no visas Page 5

BY EMIN BARÇI Sali Berisha has finally publicly supported terrorism. Yesterday he declared that the DP opposes surrendering weapons. The “wonder” goes so far that the young man “terrorized” by the Kalashnikov Committees now agrees to take part in early elections even with an armed vote. Berisha’s statement came immediately after the masked men’s gruesome murder of three police officers in the district of Ballsh, as well as several successive explosive blasts in the city of Gjirokastër. At precisely the moment when the state and Albanians feel disarmament to be more necessary than ever, Berisha is calling for the retention of 600,000 rifles and Kalashnikovs, 1 million mines and dynamite caps, etc. Before the head of the DP declared his support for Kalashnikovs, very senior state sources had said there was evidence that terrorism in the south was being incited by Berisha himself and extremist elements of his party. This evidence is not simply about Berisha’s links with Gaxhai’s gang. Berisha’s yesterday’s “clean-up” to democratize Kalashnikovs is directed not merely against the lives of Albanians as living beings and God’s creatures, but also against their economic well-being. The West’s primary requirement for helping revive the Albanian economy is the establishment of public order, which is closely linked to disarmament. Terrorism took on a clearly anti-state dimension precisely when Interior Minister Nënitan Ceka ordered his forces to shoot without warning when they encounter masked terrorist groups. This decision by the police chief has also met with opposition from some Western countries, whose legislation does not provide for the death penalty. But Albania is neither France nor Germany. In this span of just a few months, several hundred civilians and dozens of police officers have been killed. The number of weapons in the hands of the civilian population, relative to the number of inhabitants, breaks every world record. Neighboring countries are trading in Albanian Kalashnikovs and bullets, risking unprecedented levels of crime. Under these circumstances, Europe’s “stop” to capital punishment seems absurd. Europe does not arrive all at once, but gradually. The Council of Europe should allow Albania to apply the death penalty urgently; otherwise, some of the deaths among Albanians cannot fail to weigh on the “Ex cathedra” professors of democracy in Strasbourg. This is precisely why President Medani plans to ask the Council of Europe soon to allow the application of capital punishment in Albania for terrorists. If Europe is asking for principles, Albanians are asking only for life. Strasbourg should have demanded democratic principles of Berisha before March ’97.

A resident of Lezhë on Sunday, the day of the flooding Photo: REUTERS

The DP leader says people should go to the elections armed, too P. 4

Socialists: now changes at the head of the party P. 3

Alimucaj gets permission to celebrate with his family P. 15

Found hiding in the “1 Maji” neighborhood P. 8

Democratic MPs join the six-month strikers P. 2

Sentence sought for the wanted man P. 7

Phone discussions, ordered by the chairman “The prime minister’s clique is endangering the SP.” The former deputy chairman warns: My supporters are many times more numerous Former SP deputy chairman Servet Pëllumbi, following Saturday’s clashes with chairman Fatos Nano at the National Conference of the Socialists, talks about the conference’s behind-the-scenes moves, the phone calls ordered by the presidium, and his views, because of which he had to endure the chairman’s labels of “dogmatic” and “communist.” P. 3

The finance department of the “Koha Jonë” company informs all sales outlets for the newspapers “Koha Jonë” and “Sport Express” that they should contact the supplement, as the 1997 accounts will be settled. If you do not collect the money in accordance with the contract, it will not include you in 1998, and the company will contract with other agencies instead.