— Mr. Eduard Selami in Kavajë and Korçë

Late on Saturday evening, British Secretary of State Douglas Herd arrived in Albania for an official visit. He was returning from Belgrade, where he had held several meetings about the grave situation in the former Yugoslavia. During the morning hours on Sunday, D. Herd met with the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, the Prime Minister, Aleksandër Meksi, and the Minister of Health, Tritan Shehu, and held a brief press conference. At 10:00, Mr. Herd met Mr. Meksi at the Prime Minister’s Office. Our Prime Minister explained to the British Secretary of State that the interruption of relations over the years did not prevent the British presence in Albania through its historians, culture and language. In fact, Britain has also been present in Albania through its football, Mr. Meksi said humorously. After acquainting his English guest with Albania’s difficult economic situation and the government’s need for economic reform, Mr. Meksi addressed cooperation between the two countries in various fields. He focused on investment and organized emigration. Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi also expressed the government’s willingness to help locate the remains of the 68 British soldiers who fell in our country during the last war. Mr. Douglas Herd said that relations are now getting off to a good start again. He expressed Britain’s interest in cooperating with Albania. Regarding the crisis in the Balkans and the former Yugoslavia, he said that the Albanian government should be rea- (Continued on page 4) (Photo: DITAN KABA)

— PRESIDENT BERISHA AMONG THE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS IN FUSHË-KRUJË — On Saturday afternoon, the President of the Republic of Albania, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha, visited the town of Fushë-Krujë, which on 14 July experienced a grave and tragic event as a result of an armed clash between a criminal gang and law-enforcement authorities. Among others, two completely innocent young people were killed. First, President Sali Berisha went to the home of Selman and Nasibe Lala to offer his condolences for their daughter Heroina, 19, who was a victim of the clash. “Your pain,” President Sali Berisha told Heroina’s parents, “is immense. The whole town of Fushë-Krujë and all of Albania share this pain. Her death is a terrible loss, but we must bear it. We will show the criminals where they belong. Just as we fought against the dictatorship, we will know how to fight to restore order and peace.” “You have honored me greatly, Mr. President,” Selman Lala said. “May you always hold your head high. It seems to me that my daughter is still alive. I will not— (Continued on page 4)

The heroic people of Kavajë gathered these days for a magnificent rally in the town square. Among those who honored the people with their presence were the chairman of the DP, Mr. Eduard Selami, as well as Mr. Pjetër Arbnori, Speaker of Parliament’s Presidium, MP Rushen Golemi, and Messrs. Tomor Dosti and Dylber Vrioni. The square resounded with enthusiastic cheers for the DP from thousands upon thousands of people, an entire population. Among the placards held aloft, one could make out those of the children and easily understand that Kavajë could never turn back, that there was no other road for it but the road of democracy. Amid the cheers, Mr. Eduard Selami took the floor: “Everyone should be grateful to Josif Buda, the parties of democracy. Kavajë is the cradle of today’s democracy, its enduring support, where the dictatorship received its first blows...” Local government, he stressed, is vital to democracy, which must also be established at this level in order to drive out corruption and anarchy. We know the problems, just as we know their causes, and we are convinced that we will overcome them together. We promise you that the world is helping us, and in these three months we have received more aid than ever before. We promised peace and order, and their improvement is undeniable; we promised to eradicate communism, and we outlawed the Communist Party. The path we have embarked on is the path of progress and national advancement. Once again, optimism, confidence and cheers for the DP. Kavajë knows that the DP does everything, that it has proven its courage, its support and its worth. Mr. Pjetër Arbnori felt this respect from Kavajë when he declared: “—if I tell you that the citizens do ... just as heroically, I would like this city ... Kavajë is the city of Kavajë, the Kavajë he showed us, convincingly as he came out ...” Kavajë for the red boil. Besa ... fully supported. The parliament’s decision, initiated by 30 DP deputies, outlawed the Communist Party. And there could be no better response than the applause of the people in this beautiful, enthusiastic atmosphere, when Mr. Skuqi announced the happy news: thanks to the efforts of the government and the president, funds have been secured to restart all the enterprises in the Kavajë district. Optimism is now exceptional, accompanied by prospects for the future. A German humanitarian association is giving Kavajë a children’s home or a hospital. And Kavajë deserves it, of course, just like Shkodër, Tirana and all of Albania. At the end, Mrs. Golemi, moved, greeted the mothers of Kavajë, who raised and nurtured their sons with love for Albania and democracy. On 18.7.1992, the DP branch of Korçë organized a festive meeting at the Sports Palace as part of the election campaign. The chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania, Mr. Eduard Selami, the secretary, Mr. Tomorr Dosti, and Mrs. Rushen Golemi attended. Amid the great enthusiasm of those present, the meeting was opened by the chairman of the DP branch in Korçë, Mr. Petrika Minga. He spoke about the victory of democracy in the Korçë district. The Socialist Party, the speaker continued, with its old and new cadres, has launched a terrible offensive of slander and lies, as if it were not itself responsible for the catastrophic state into which it plunged Albania. The people of Korçë are no longer deceived, because they have tied their fate to democracy; therefore, in the local elections they will give their votes to the Democratic Party. Then Selami, took the floor and said, among other things: “We have been on the road to democracy together for a year and a half, and during this time great changes have taken place. In fact, even the most optimistic could not have imagined, when we set out on this road, that in a country where one could lose one’s head for a careless word, the day would come when freedom would be institutionalized, when the former communist elite would stand trial and the Communist Party would be outlawed. Today we are facing the economic destruction wrought by 47 years of communism, moral destruction and corruption. The irony is that those who sowed these things for 47 years now demand answers from us, even though the democratic government has been in office for only three months. The people will hold them to account through democratic means. In these three months, we promised to restore order, and we have stabilized it; we promised to fight to eradicate communism, and we are doing so; we promised aid and ties with the world, and we are delivering; we promised a market economy, and we are carrying out the reform. We are confident in the new path of reform, which is the path of joining modern Europe. We will accept no alliance with the Socialist Party, which is the successor to the Albanian Party of Labour!” Korçë has been a center of culture, prosperity and progress. It will become so again, because the new era offers unlimited opportunities for progress. It is a pleasure for me to introduce the candidate for mayor of the city of Korçë, one of the early activists for democracy, the young intellectual Mr. Gjergj Gjinka. Then mayoral candidate Mr. Gjergj Gjinka spoke, telling his constituents that through its work the new municipality of Korçë would bring this historic city up to contemporary standards of progress, because it deserves this and has every opportunity to achieve it. Then the secretary of the Democratic Party of Albania, Mr. Tomorr Dosti, and Mrs. Rushen Golemi offered their greetings. At the end, singer Sherif Merdani gave a concert, which was applauded by those present. BEHAR FEJZULLAI LORENC LIGORI

In the newspaper “ZP” I read about the visit to Greece by the chairman of the SP, and learned something about the content of his talks with Andreas Papandreou, the son of former Prime Minister Papandreou, during whose time the genocide against the Cham was carried out. Meetings and talks between politicians, whether friends or not, are as old as they are commonplace. At such meetings and talks, each side defends specific party, political, state and national interests. At his meeting with Papandreou, I do not know what interests Mr. Nano defended. Of one thing I am certain: he did not defend our national interests. This is also evident from the article in “ZP”, which emphasizes that PASOK sees “the Socialist Party of Albania as our only ally in Albania”! (My emphasis, B. H.) These words alone are enough to reveal the true anti-Albanian face of Andreas Papandreou, PASOK and his interlocutor, Mr. F. Nano. I am not referring here to the Socialist Party of Albania, since among its members there are many who are ready to sacrifice everything for the good of our nation. The words quoted above show that Mr. Papandreou tramples on the democratic changes in Albania and dreams of restoring the disrupted balance of the past and, why not, the Athens-Belgrade-Tirana axis, with the realization of the old dreams of the Greek-Serbian monarchies as his goal. The great Rishqeloi has left us several axioms concerning foreign policy. One of them is: “The friend of my enemy is my enemy.” Considering that Millosheviçi, Qosiqi and their companions are friends of Papandreou, who even now, when the whole world condemns Serbia, supports it; and given that Qosiqi and his companions are sworn enemies of our nation, we cannot expect anything good from him or take pride in Papandreou’s words about the SP. Today, as I understand it, our nation faces two primary issues that demand a solution. One is the national question, at the heart of which is resolving the issue of the Republic of Kosovo, its independence and international recognition. Neither Millosheviç nor Papandreou wants this solution. Our second great issue is spiritual, economic, cultural, educational, artistic, sporting and other renewal, linked to the deepening of democratic processes and the full victory of the democratic order in the Republic of Albania. Millosheviç and Papandreou are in the same trench on this issue too. They do not want this task to be accomplished. — In light of the truths set out above, as an Albanian I have this doubt: “Could it be that Mr. F. Nano has embarked on the path of B. Hoxha with regard to resolving our national question?” Could it be that, for the sake of his personal interest in keeping his seat, he is trading away our national interests? I address these questions to the SP. It has a duty to assess and evaluate the personal actions of its individual leaders. It is clear to everyone that the Republic of Albania is not and of the ba- ni the l- A JRAMI of the powe- of the week and Mage- imi qe- rket se ohet ne hema progressive, e dhe përafqë gjenë tas- veri Nba- pasur apo par- romb e keta e mund (ATSI)

The army accepted the reform not out of opportunism. But from the very first cuts made to the army’s structure, there were plenty of reactions. The army accepted the reform not out of opportunism. But from the very first cuts made to the army’s structure, there were plenty of reactions: some of those affected by the reform reacted. In some places there were debates, elsewhere an article was written, somewhere a petition with collective signatures was circulated, and somewhere else some stale humor was published. And, undoubtedly, the attempt to leave by ship from Sazan seeks to legitimize the prelude to concrete action. Whom do these things serve? Certainly not the army, and not democracy either. And although our army is now depoliticized and dep[?]oliticized, it is quite often used as corpus delicti by some political force. It is regrettable that, for this purpose, some “dep[?]oliticized and depoliticized” officers are being used, some of them even holding a rank with the suffix “retired.” A chilling appeal in the morning press cannot go unnoticed. A “depoliticized and dep[?]oliticized” person, writing in a party organ, emphasized: “Where are you taking the army, Mr. President?” I do not want to elaborate on issues that military specialists can answer more competently. But I sincerely believe that anyone who reads this would consider it wrong to retire fifty-year-olds solely because of their white hair, their experience, and the fact that they “know the labyrinths of the Ministry of Defense.” No, gentlemen! Today, more than ever, the army needs peace, (Continued on page 3)

LET US DEAL THE FINAL BLOW TO THE COMMUNIST DRAGON BROTHERS AND SISTERS LET US DEAL THE FINAL BLOW TO THE COMMUNIST DRAGON 31 March: It stripped the plaster from the ugly communist building! 22 March: It demolished the upper floors of the socialist privileged class 26 July: It will be the earthquake that tears them out by the roots