Prosecution: How much did the Albanian state help terrorists enter the country? Page 2

BY GAVROSH LEVONJA Quite unexpectedly, within just a few days, the Albanian state of today finds itself facing an extremely difficult challenge: the now very familiar “Islamic terrorism.” In those days when the Albanian media, without concealing their euphoria, reported the arrest or extradition of several dangerous terrorists, cloaked in the garb of Islam, no one imagined that it would not be long before Albania found itself in the position of the peasant in the tale who took a frozen snake into his home. Considering the role played by certain links in the Albanian state in the extradition of Egyptian terrorists—a matter said to be the reason for the bombings of the US embassies in East Africa—simple logic does not rule out the possibility that terrorists might also strike Albania or our missions abroad “in the name of Islam.” The measures taken by the US embassy and the suspension of its operations make a retaliatory response by Bin Laden’s or El-Nagger’s men even more likely. All the more so since they now have bases in Albania, not to mention the means and funds needed for such an undertaking. In addition, today’s institutions have no inherited information about these militants, who settled in Albania usually as employees of foundations, mainly charitable ones. In this respect, the current state must pay the price for what the opposition of that time had described years earlier as a policy of “wide-open doors.” In an Albania where it was very easy to enter and leave, no exception was made for people accused of murdering Egypt’s former president or taking part in other massacres, and sentenced to death in their own countries; although labeled “wanted,” they felt calm and safe in Albania. Perhaps Berisha’s governments of that time, just as with the pyramid schemes, were tempted by the large sums of money they may have poured in. But, when one adds the previous governments’ lack of interest, their refusal to cooperate with foreign intelligence services to capture and extradite terrorists, and the fact that some of their important figures, now sought by Albanian justice, are in exile in Islamic countries, suspicions arise that the sheltering of wanted Islamic terrorists in Albania may have been the result of a secret agreement. Those involved in it must now be heard, at least to provide explanations and avert the worst. In this connection, one of the reports gathered by the CIA says that “in the early 1990s some Albanian officials had established close ties with Islamic radicals.”

Former mayor accuses former minister P. 5

Anti-Mafia arrests 100 members of an organization P. 10

Page 6 A Serbian policeman trampling the Albanian flag in the village of Ajvalija, 80 km from Pristina Photo REUTERS

One of the escapees is a member of Zani’s gang. They escaped while eating bread. The vacated cells are occupied by four police officers who were on duty at the time. The cells of Kruja burst open: 4 dangerous criminals A sensational escape from Kruja prison. Four dangerous detainees, one of them a member of Zani’s gang, broke out of the remand cells at the Kruja police station and fled in an unknown direction. RENEA special forces are searching for them, while the four police officers on duty have been put in handcuffs in place of the escapees. Photographs of the escapees have been distributed to every police checkpoint in the country. And after several surprise searches of their homes or the bases where police thought they might be hiding, nothing has been found. P. 7

Threat to destroy the offices of the newspaper “KJ” Late last night, anonymous phone calls made by unknown people with a distinctly northeastern accent threatened to blow up the offices of the newspaper “Koha Jonë” because the paper has repeatedly criticized Islamic fundamentalism. “What we didn’t do to the Americans, we’ll do to you!” This was the anonymous phone call made late last night. After this, Deputy Interior Minister Ilir Çano was notified, and he ordered the building of the “Koha Jonë” newspaper to be placed under full surveillance. The company’s private security guards were also tripled to avoid any eventuality, something “Koha Jonë” had already experienced on 2 March 1997, when it was completely burned and destroyed by Gazidete’s fundamentalist SHIK operatives.

Rinas documentation on the entry of foreigners since 1993 blocked / Gazidede’s role being investigated

were coming Declaration Law Politics steals 10 million lekë P. 5 Fear of attacks forces SHIK to search the villages Bizë, NATO’s mountains are being “swept” P. 9