Last night at 22:30, the United States decided to launch a surprise attack. Missiles over Baghdad. Saddam was disarming the UN inspectors.

Clinton: It had to be done before Ramadan. England joins the war. Page 3 A Tomahawk cruise missile heading toward Iraq. Photo: REUTERS

BY GAVROSH LEVONJA Yesterday, representatives of the student hunger strikers refused a meeting with Prime Minister Majko. Such a decision, first of all, stands in paradoxical contrast with one of the reasons why the strikers turned to the idea of self-sacrifice. It is well known that the hunger strike began after the head of government hesitated to hold a meeting with the students, even simply to hear their demands. On the other hand, now that several days have passed since the strike began, and the refusal to eat has begun to take its toll, it would have been logical for both sides to show signs of moderation in order to help achieve a solution. Above all, however, reaching an agreement would be in everyone’s interest, given the situation the country is in, where a single spark could push it into chaos. Certainly, bearing this latter point in mind, as well as the recent experience of the events that followed the brutal murder of Azem Hajdari, the government, despite the mistakes it made at the initial stage in dealing with the students’ demands, took a positive step toward dialogue in recent days by deciding to meet the great majority of the besieged students’ demands, naturally within the limits of what was possible. By rejecting the government’s measures mentioned above and refusing to meet Prime Minister Majko, the strikers are seriously compromising the true aims of the strike. Moreover, today’s strikers, despite having lived through years of democracy, are showing by this that they are not even at the level of their predecessors of 1990, who did not hesitate to meet a communist president, unlike the latter. After this, the hypotheses concerning the political background to the hunger strike become even more credible. Someone, having exhausted other means and methods of coming to power, is now trying to play the “student revolt” card, evidently believing that what happened eight years ago can be repeated, despite the fact that many things have changed since then. It is by no means surprising if this “someone” is interested in using the strikers even more, perhaps waiting for one of them to die so as to accuse the government of “having killed them.” Thus, one gets the impression that even if Majko goes to see them, it will be difficult for him to reach an agreement to end the strike.

Two more have been killed at 16:30 Washington time, or 22:30 in Albania and 00:30 in Iraq. The US President, Bill Clinton, acting entirely on his own initiative, ordered the attack on Saddam. And immediately the missiles were launched; their exact number was made known only at 24:00 (18:00 in Washington), when Bill Clinton appeared at a press conference. “We had to carry out the attack before the month began, because later Saddam would have had the opportunity to hide the weapons. The month of Ramadan will begin in a few days, and if we attacked then, we would face the reaction of the entire Islamic world,” Clinton argued before the press. Above, the President said that UN monitoring was failing, because instead of disarming Saddam, he was disarming them. “Saddam must fulfill the commitments he made to destroy weapons of mass destruction,” Clinton said. (Continued on page 3)

A Terrorist Act Against the Students Feared Late last night, at around 22:00, the Government convened to discuss a secret report urgently received from SHIK concerning the possibility of a terrorist act against the students on hunger strike. Last night, Prime Minister Majko ordered all police and SHIK structures to investigate this information. It is thought that certain sections of Albanian society, or people outside the country, are interested in creating a dangerous precedent in the “Studenti” district, which would complicate the political situation in Albania and ultimately destabilize it.

Klosi, Delusional and Incorrigible Last night, all the publishers and editors-in-chief of the print press gathered at one of the venues of the Rogner Hotel. They condemned the staging of the Song Festival, where all the Albanian newspapers had been deliberately trampled underfoot, supposedly to convey the idea that the press had caused Albania’s problems. The set was deliberately laid out with burned-out cars and a backdrop whose wording blamed the media. Offended by this spiteful whim of Ardian Klosi, the most irresponsible director this institution has had since its establishment, the publishers and editors-in-chief decided to ask the festival organizers to remove all the newspapers from the set and décor today. If Klosi refuses, all the newspapers will refrain from covering the event and will jointly take the matter to court. That was the essence of their demand. “Shekulli” (Koço Kokëdhima), “ZP” (Erion Braçe), “RD” (Astrit Pato(si)), “Gazeta Shqiptare” (Carlo Bollino), “Republika” (Dalip Greca), “Albania” (Ylli Rakipi), “KLAN” magazine (Aleksandër Frangaj), “Koha Jonë” (Nikollë Lesi). A.N.