The complete letter Erieta Avdyli sent to her sister on 7 February The Tirana Prosecutor’s Office is unjustly investigating only one line of inquiry, while the accusations also implicate UNICEF and its leaders in Tirana page 7 –

By VERNER DAUN* It was the spring of 1990. On one of those beautiful days, some young people sought refuge in the Greek Embassy, soon followed by others who climbed the railings of the Italian Embassy. At the French Embassy residence, the security forces pulled a young man down by his legs, causing the spikes of the railings to pierce his body; his corpse was later taken down. On 13 June, Saint Anthony’s Day, 15,000 Catholics gathered at the church of the same name in Laç, which had been blown up by the communists 30 years earlier. But this time the police did not dare move against the people, nor did they try to disperse them. On 1 July 1990, a truck broke through the wall of our embassy, and four young men jumped into the embassy courtyard. State Security agents opened fire, wounding one of them. On 2 July, around 60–70 refugees were found in the Greek, Italian and French embassies and at ours. On 3 July, another 77 Albanians arrived at the German Embassy. A truck broke through the embassy perimeter, followed by a group of refugees. State Security personnel opened fire, and one refugee was shot in the lung. An armed Albanian police officer was standing inside the embassy grounds. Then there were demonstrations; one took place on Embassy Street. Two people were killed, and the wounded were thrown onto a truck. State Security began acting with unprecedented brutality, but the Albanians did not back down. During the night of 2–3 July, someone planted explosives at Stalin’s statue near the “Dajti” hotel. Meanwhile, the embassies were filling up with refugees. Bonn, Rome and Paris sent planes carrying luggage, food and medicines, but the Albanian Government refused to let them land in the country and then cut off the embassies’ drinking water. Finally, on 4 July, two officials from the Federal Foreign Office and a doctor were allowed to enter Albania, but, of course, without any luggage. On the evening of 6 July there were about 800 refugees in our embassy. On 6 July, around 1,600. We were not allowed to buy bread. When our minibus, looking for basic food supplies, passed a bakery, the shop’s shutters would come down; but then the local people would rush into the bakery and fill the minibus with bread. During the night leading into 8 July, a woman gave birth to a child in our embassy. The city’s pharmacists had come only rarely and refused to give us any kind of medicine, but the little girl, Gormana, managed to survive in this world even without medicine. (continued on page 3)

Albania celebrates America. Pages 16–17

Three companies withdraw; ECF’s Anglo-Lebanese company wins Cement privatization tender. The bid is twice the real value page 19