Prime Minister Thaçi made it known that they will meet, Qosja meets the American representative in Tirana Alongside the talk of unity among the Kosovo factor, the Thaçi-Rugova “differences” continue The prime minister of the interim government of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, announced yesterday that he will not meet with President Ibrahim Rugova, while Rugova is due to return today from Rome to Tirana. Their much-discussed meeting in the Albanian capital, which was seen as the news of the day because of the conflict between them, still appears to be far off. The news was confirmed yesterday by the spokesman for the interim government of Kosovo, Jakup Krasniqi. According to him, Thaçi will return to Tirana today without meeting Rugova. “The prime minister of the interim government of Kosovo, with the mission assigned to him in the name of alliance politics and in agreement with his cabinet, has stayed in Tirana to meet the American Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, and has made efforts to meet representatives of the KLA and the Albanian factor in order to make them aware of the importance of close cooperation and of joint political and military arrangements,” says the statement of the spokesman of the interim government, Jakup Krasniqi. He further adds that “under no circumstances has there been any talk of any agreement or of a separate meeting of his with Mr. Rugova”. Commenting on yesterday’s statements, Mr. Thaçi said he is working to form a government of national unity and a joint military-political body. He described as incomprehensible the statement by Rugova’s spokesman that he could not come to Tirana because of problems with Milosevic’s rescue. “So far the Italian side of naivety ignores it and is not trying to massacre it and force the Serb more for any agreement or meeting with any Albanian side, unlike the Albanian side divided into two,” said Mr. Thaçi. According to Rugova’s spokesman, “Rugova” is not ready to meet another “political” name, but will meet “his man” in Tirana, Lamberto Dini. “Dini cannot be an enemy of the interim government; in fact only Rugova has come to Tirana.” According to Rugova’s spokesman, “Rugova” cannot be a supporter of his own government and at the same time be in Tirana to meet Mr. Thaçi, in order to clarify the political solution to the Kosovo crisis. Meanwhile, the Albanian government and the international factor are making efforts to mediate a Thaçi-Rugova meeting. Western diplomats have made it clear that the American administration considers such a meeting necessary, as part of a possible political solution for Kosovo.

The Manchester thunder raged last night as it celebrated winning the European Champions Cup

“Voice of America” in Albania still blocked Yesterday the Albanian government's response regarding the blocking of the waves of the “Voice of America” radio was made public. In a letter signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paskal Milo, and sent to the German parliament, to the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, the cancellation of the transfer of VOA broadcasts from Greece to Macedonia was suggested. The reaction of the Albanian government made it clear to the Embassy, to the capital of the German parliament, that PETI (Gerti [??]) the Italian government is deepening its stance. “Voice of America” from a private radio which has carried in its premises the signal of the “Voice of America” radio, on the other hand the Albanian government with an official statement. “Voice of America” has the duty to inform about Western democracy in general and developments in the Balkans. The reason for blocking the waves of “Voice of America” was declared to be that the waves had been shortened up to now so much, in the case of “Rugova”, no less than “Rugova”, not without reason, precisely at the time when NATO bombing began. According to a source close to the ministry, the day of putting the radios into operation has been examined as one of the most worrying issues by senior officials. The text sent to the German parliament further states that “Not a day has passed without complaints to the Foreign Minister about the blocking of the waves of ‘Voice of America’. Albania has expressed interest in having the American radio waves as soon as possible, in order to support the Albanian cause, but also to maintain independent information for Albanians”. (continues on page 28)

Diplomaticus

4 judges dismissed from office They did not take part in the exam page 4 Tirana, the Hotel of Criminals, Haxhari's departure is being prepared page 7 Serbs sleep in Has, kill 2 Albanians page 2 Afton ultimatum, India parliamentary democrats page 3 Albania receives a certificate of degree of ...; 200 million USD from donors within the year page 13 The Germans are targeting the roads of Kavaja page 19 Albtelekom costs the state 41 million dollars; the State Audit Office uncovers the thefts page 28 Gjaboka, return to Miss [?]