They threaten Albanian families: Tell us where the KLA is! Page 5 TIRANA

Serbian commandos have breached the border line and appeared in one of the Albanian villages. The news reported yesterday, vague enough to create alarm and set Albanian politics in motion, passed without a stir. The parties gathered at a meeting where they tried to turn the situation to their advantage for worthless political gain. Yesterday, too, the world’s media sounded the alarm loudly. From Portugal to Brazil, the biggest newspapers sadly declared that diplomacy was losing even the last battle to avert catastrophe in the Balkans. With the same level of urgency, according to news agencies, the foreign ministers of the great powers called one another late into the night. Divided and indecisive, most of them did nothing but watch on television screens the new Serbian massacre, just 200 metres from the border. Serbia responded to international appeasement. Nearly two-thirds of the federal army has been mobilized in the latest clashes, backed by the entire arsenal of the Yugoslav army. The Serbian population in Kosovo has been armed and equipped with uniforms, while the media keep ringing the bells of war incessantly, in such a way as to achieve 75% participation in a phantom referendum. Diplomacy, too, is working intensively. Backed by Russia and various international lobbies, Yugoslavia is creating the impression that its massacre is merely a war against terrorism. It is also trying to implicate Albania, declaring every day that the Kosovar insurgents are trained on Albanian territory and that from here weapons and ammunition enter the borders of the federation. To say that the KLA is armed and trained in Albania is tantamount to accepting that sooner or later it will declare war on that country. But the tragedy is that, in the face of this, Albanian politics remains drowsy. The manoeuvres of some military forces in Kukës and the fitting out of hospitals with beds for refugees are little more than window dressing. Albania must act quickly to show that it is ready to face any situation, and not merely through statements. Placing the country on alert, partial mobilization, and arming the population’s military formations in the northern border region should be the most urgent measures. They should have been taken before this latest meeting of the Council of Ministers, to show the world that Albania has decided to act seriously and is not afraid of a possible confrontation. The parties themselves must abandon slogans and place greater faith in action. Tense situations unleash incredible energy, and the Serbs have experienced this from our weapons more than once during this century. Ultimately, our bitter and painful wounds are still fresh, and we, better than anyone in the Balkans, know that no one helps you unless you first help yourself.

Albanian Artillery Regiment in Bicaj, Kukës. Photo: GENT SHKULLAKU

Hysni Milloshi: We are not a party created in Ramiz Alia’s offices. The PS, PD, PSD, etc. were created there The Communists react after the widow’s statements “The Communist Party was not created in the offices of Ramiz Alia and Nexhmije Hoxha, and it makes no difference whether she recognizes us or not,” Hysni Milloshi told the Albanian Telegraphic Agency, adding that the Democratic Party, the Socialist Party, the Social Democratic Party and other Albanian parties were created in those offices after pluralism was permitted in Albania in December 1990. P. 2

Investigation at the ministry: who issued them passports? P. 8

Teta meets subordinates: there will be no purges P. 9

They enter the unit; the prosecutor’s office launches an investigation P. 9

Vlorë: 180 people with fake visas on the ferry P. 13

Seven dental clinics destroyed in one night P. 10

A 70-year-old man kills his wife, his son’s bride, and himself P. 11

Bomb targets driver who works for the US embassy P. 8

An armed and masked gang crosses the border. Exchange of gunfire with villagers