Azem Hajdari at the Democratic Party meeting: “O diem, take up arms!” Page 3

The arrest of six people who may be considered political opponents of the PS, if the Prime Minister’s barely credible account is taken at face value, is the last thing Fatos Nano could have had a hand in. There are several reasons for this, but the most obvious is that the philosophy with which he seeks to govern is in complete contradiction with the prosecution’s latest action. Not simply because Nano mentioned his own suffering and that of his family beforehand, but because for more than a year, despite his harsh language toward Berisha, he has never failed to emphasize that his team is determined to move in the opposite direction from the philosophy of arresting political opponents. All the more so, Nano could not have ordered the arrest of his former accuser Çela on the basis of the ... charges that are being loudly brought and defended by his former lawyer Tirana. Because, despite his major failings in government and in his personal life, the intelligence of the Albanian premier would not allow him to make such a gross blunder. Thus, the arrest, in contradiction with Nano’s platform, has so confused public opinion that the question arises: who is the person or group that has taken it upon themselves to carry out such an action without the Prime Minister’s knowledge? Either this is an independent action carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office without consulting the Prime Minister, or the imprisonment of six senior PD officials was intended to strike someone else. First, to create the impression among the public that Nano’s words about inclusive solutions are hypocrisy, by implementing a scheme very similar to the scheme used by politicians in the previous government. And second, to foster within the PS the feeling that the Prime Minister’s romantic liberalism and his new philosophy are losing ground and broad support, and that the hardliners who want revenge are the ones who hold real power. On the basis of this reasoning, and assuming one believes the sincerity of the Prime Minister’s measured words and the statement by the US Ambassador, the latest political action—the arrest of PD officials—is more likely to strike Nano himself than the opposition. But who stands to benefit from this blow? Perhaps structures that have often shown dissatisfaction with their leader’s leniency—a leniency that, in his latest speech, was interpreted as desertion or fear of Berisha. If it is true that ... then these structures are made up of powerful people, and it turns out that powerful people hold positions both in the government and in the PS. There is no way to explain how an action with such dangerous political consequences as these six arrests could have been kept from the country’s leader by his close associates or the other intelligence services. (Continued on page 3)

Serbs in the North, but also the PD and Islamists P. 7

Crimes against humanity: legal experts provide explanations P. 4

Recruits at the border have nowhere to gather

Page 5 President of the Republic Rexhep Meidani Photo GENT SHKULLAKU President of the Republic Rexhep Meidani. Photo GENT SHKULLAKU

Warrants signed for the imprisonment of Bashkim Gazidede and Armando Vinçani The number of those arrested for March has reached 12 Arrest warrants issued in absentia for former SHIK chief and former Commander of the State of Emergency Bashkim Gazidede, and former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Army Armando Vinçani. The arrest warrants for them were signed on the same night as the high-profile arrests in Tirana, but the police did not execute them because neither of them is in Albania. F 2

F 4 Recruits at the border have nowhere to gather There are no barracks for the soldiers F 9 MPs will visit the refugees and the maneuvers Parliament in the North F 6 Religious missionaries leave without giving explanations The Americans are leaving F 10