“With the Prime Minister, it is not politics that divides us, but morality” Page 3

BY ANDI BEJTJA The KLA is increasingly eclipsing the political leader of the Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova, and the entire Kosovo political class, leaving the votes from the 22 March elections—in which the “Albanian Gandhi” received over 90%—hanging by the thread of war. A meeting between Rugova and President Clinton was not enough to restore the Albanian leader’s standing, because while Rugova was in Washington, the Serbs were intensifying massacres of the Albanian population, and the number of men taking up arms grew every day. Thanks to these massacres, the label “terrorist” for the KLA quickly changed to “Albanians defending their own lands.” Official Tirana, too, although fragmented and vague in its policy, has made a gentle turn toward the KLA. At its latest press conference, the SP indirectly welcomed the KLA’s struggle. Yesterday, the deputy chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense went much further, saying that the armed resistance of Kosovo Albanians had prevented the Serbs from reaching the Albanian border. State TV announcers do not forget to salute the “freedom fighters” after every news bulletin. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Fatos Nano still hopes for an end to the war and for Albanian-Serb dialogue. Albania has pinned its hopes on NATO intervention in Kosovo, but the Euro-Atlantic Alliance cannot intervene without a clear mandate from the Security Council. If the hoped-for decision is made, it is still far from clear what position NATO will take toward the warring parties: the Serbs and the KLA. Voices from abroad are now increasingly saying that the military solution is for the Serbian police to withdraw, and for the KLA to do so as well. But if an international presence in Kosovo, together with increased sanctions, can force Millosheviç to withdraw his police and military forces, who will be able to persuade the KLA to withdraw? At the first meeting between the Albanian and Serbian delegations in Belgrade last month, one member of the Albanian delegation, Veton Surroi, dared to put Millosheviç to a diplomatic test, telling him: “If you withdraw the police, we will withdraw the KLA.” Millosheviç replied that they were not KLA leaders and could not do that. It seems the time has come for someone to stand up for the armed resistance and sit at the negotiating table with a mandate from the people who are fighting. For Rugova to have reason to smile when he meets Millosheviç, as he smiled at their first meeting, he must have behind him not only the letter nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize, but also some armed men defending their homes from Millosheviç’s soldiers. If this does not happen, Albanian-Serb talks will be a true farce, the armed resistance will remain unorganized and, above all, the Albanians themselves will make the position of the Euro-Atlantic structures that could intervene directly in Kosovo even more difficult.

The March investigative commission completes its full report P. 10

Campaign without Nano at the helm: who will be to blame tomorrow? P. 2

The KLA is defending Albania P. 3 Police get involved: who robbed the businessman? The hostage’s fate remains a mystery P. 6 The terrorists took up arms; the operation was directed from a house How Shkodra was burned P. 9

Page 5 KLA fighters in one of Kosovo’s villages Photo REUTERS KLA fighters in one of Kosovo’s villages. Photo REUTERS

Italy, police operation against the multinational Mafia 30 Albanian Mafiosi Arrested At the head of the organization is a former DP MP. He is suspected of having also been a minister A supergang of Albanians has been caught in the net of an Italian anti-drug police operation in Milan and many other regions of Italy. According to reports from foreign news agencies, Italy has been involved in a major anti-drug operation in recent days, as a result of which 100 people have so far been detained, including 30 Albanians, most of them originally from Kosovo. F 7

Smuggling allegations resurface. The former Interior Minister refuses to back down