The «Kaçaniku» Club - 90, together with the LDK branch in Cologne, organized a meeting of Albanians living in Germany with Mr Pjetër Arbnori. Mr Xhezair Zaganjori, Ambassador of Albania to Germany, academician Mark Krasniqi from Kosovo, Mr Nik Gjelo[s]hi, Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, etc., were also invited. Mr Pjetër Arbnori’s entrance was greeted with loud applause by around 300 people who filled the hall. After greetings from Mr Marjan Tunaj, chairman of the LDK Cologne branch, Mr Arb[n]ori took the floor; he spoke about the important political changes in Albania; the progress of reform; the rapid laws approved by the People’s Assembly; the strong support Albania gives to a just resolution of the Kosovo issue and to the issue of other Albanians living in their own lands in Macedonia, Montenegro, etc. Afterwards, Mr Mark Krasniqi spoke. At the end, Mr Pjetër Arbnori, Mr Krasniqi, Mr Zaganjori and Mr Gjelo[s]hi answered the many questions asked by those present. The meeting, which lasted about three hours, was very cordial. (ATA)

Army reform, as part of democratic reform, is continuing according to the logic of the times, with the national question and the experience of Western democratic armies at its center. It began with a package of laws, which brought in ranks, the status of military personnel, laws on depoliticization and military service. These are making the army, once a one-party army, fully national. Maliciously and irresponsibly, these changes are described as «class warfare», «settling scores», etc. Nearly 80 percent of those appointed to head division and brigade commands were members of the Central Committee of the PP. No one holds it against Baki Shehu that he was a division party-committee secretary or an SP deputy. Likewise, in Shkodër everyone knows that Flamur Muça, who became a division commander, is Shaqir Vukaj’s brother-in-law or was a member of the PP. No one weighed these matters on a scale. Members of the PP included Bajram Konomi, Asllan Bushati, Sheme Kosova and many others who became division and brigade commanders thanks to their intelligence, knowledge and honesty. None of the former PP members feels unwelcome in the army. Today our soldiers are clear that they belong to the nation, not to parties. Every attempt to draw the army into political games through slander, fabrications and insinuations is as dangerous as it is anti-national. When an order is issued to the army prohibiting party newspapers from being brought into units, without distinction, and setting out penalties for violators, this enforcement of the law should be welcomed. But some people are consumed with worry and make absurd slanderous claims: «Officers are being discharged for reading “ZP”! Why isn’t anyone giving the facts—who was discharged, and which command proposed it?» The numerical reduction of the army, a pan-European issue, is also taking place here. The legislation on military service, under which compulsory service was reduced from 24 to 15 months and reserve training from 9 days a year to 7 days every two years, means that staffing levels must be adjusted accordingly. The idea is clear: Enverist quantity must be replaced by modern quality. Therefore, numerical reduction, as a requirement of the times, is not a matter of parties. The attack on army reform, claiming that «trained personnel» are being removed, is driven by party spite and has no arguments behind it. Until yesterday we were wondering what Hekurani Isaj would do, with the rubbish and the lighters. But now Fatmir Zana, who knows nothing about the army, made great fuss, and managed to have the decision to place the group consisting of Enver Kristo Thomollari, former chairman of Enver’s association, and Vaskë Ziu, a genuine democrat, in the reserve reversed. Meanwhile, financial compensation of 1,800–2,600 lek per month is extremely humane. Village schoolteachers do not earn that much, nor do the typographers who are being chewed up by bullets. The statute was not implemented in full, not only because the Government’s pockets were empty, but also because Article 16 sets out several provisions (those concerning financial compensation will be implemented when the social insurance law is enacted). Shall we proceed according to the law or according to Maliq? The army is working at full capacity, and its personnel are carrying out their patriotic and readiness duties with dedication. The disease of weapons deterioration, which began ten years ago, is being cured. The army is moving toward the establishment of discipline and military order and a reduction in unauthorized absences. In the army, [text continues] (Continued on page 2)

A United Nations human rights assessment mission, based in Geneva and visiting our country, led by Mr Krajk Mokhiber, met with members of the Legal Affairs Committee of the People’s Assembly. At the meeting, the chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, Mr Zef Brozi, presented the Assembly’s work on adopting the most up-to-date legislation possible, one that guarantees human rights as effectively as possible. He also emphasized our current needs, which could be met by international institutions specializing in human rights. Mr Mokhiber expressed his willingness to help in many areas, including training courses, literature, consultations, lectures, etc. The exchange of views between the deputies and the members of the mission was useful and constructive.

The Information Center of the Democratic League of Kosovo reports that Mr Ibrahim Rugova sent him a congratulatory telegram, which reads: Mr President, we warmly congratulate you on your election as President of the United States of America. We are convinced that your accession to the leadership of the state, which is (a leader of democracy and freedom), is the victory of a new generation and a new spirit in American and world politics. We hope that the United States, under your leadership, will continue to support the cause of Kosovo and of the Albanians in the former Yugoslavia.

A senior American official stated that, despite the change in the US administration, the United States will continue to support Albania’s democratic government. The director of the United States Agency for International Development, Ronald Roskens, said that American aid to Albania would continue. Below is a summary of an interview Dr Roskens gave to our correspondent Elez Bi- The US foreign aid program has always been supported by both of the United States’ major political parties. Last week Mr Roskens visited Albania, where he met with the leaders of that country, including President Berisha. He said that Albania’s democratic government has taken important steps toward democratizing Albanian society and moving from a centralized economy to a free-market economy. Dr Roskens said that no country in Eastern Europe had undertaken such fundamental reforms in so short a time as Albania. Mr Roskens said that American aid to Albania was focused on three areas: first, building democratic institutions; reforming the economy and moving it from a centralized system to a free-market system; and improving living standards. The United States Agency for International Development has sent various experts to Albania, he said, in an effort to help the government draft and pass new laws and to provide Albania with economic advice. Mr Roskens highly praised the determination of the democratic government and the Albanian people to implement difficult reforms that are nevertheless essential to Albania’s future.

My 14-year-old son is a pupil at the «20th Anniversary of Independence» school. He also spends his free time in that neighborhood, playing with friends. One afternoon, as we were discussing the fate of the dictator R. Alia at home, he jumped in and said: “Dad, R. Alia is in the first apartment building along the Lana!” (They are also called the «Italians’ buildings» because they were built during the fascist occupation of our country.) There are also two policemen with automatic weapons guarding him there! The first part of what he said … I believed, but the second made me suspicious. Nevertheless, I said nothing. The next evening I set out to check. I knew where the building was, but on the way I wondered: Which building could be the first? The first along the Lana’s course, or in the opposite direction? Suddenly I remembered the popular saying: «He who asks will find Istanbul», so I continued calmly on my way. Soon I reached the first building along the course of the Lana. I asked a boy on a bicycle who had stopped beside a plane tree. He told me it was the building I was looking for and that the dictator lived in the last entrance, on the second floor. I approached the entrance. Not a policeman in sight! I walked around the building again to see the entrance at the back. It was boarded up. And again, not a sign of a policeman. The devil! I thought to myself about my son. He must have lied to me or played a joke on me! To make sure, I went upstairs. Then, suddenly, I saw two policemen with automatic weapons in their hands. I kept my composure, approached them and greeted them timidly. The policemen returned my greeting without batting an eyelid. Their attitude gave me more courage and confidence. I offered them cigarettes. One policeman was smoking; not like … As soon as we lit them, the conversation flowed easily. One of the policemen was from Kavaja, the other from Shkodër. Both could hardly wait for the dictator to be arrested as soon as possible. I chatted freely with the policemen for about five minutes. Before leaving, I looked toward the door of the apartment where the dictator was being held in isolation. Good heavens, I cried out in astonishment: On the sign nailed to the door I read: Maruf Haxhimuri family. So that is where the dictator is living under house arrest! At his eldest daughter’s in-law’s! At the home of the former vice dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. I parted from the policemen, leaving them the civic-minded request that they take good care of the dictator. As soon as I left the building entrance, I deliberately looked up. Against the backdrop of the heavenly candles, I counted six large windows with cream-colored plastic shutters, with a central divider separating one apartment from the other: (Oh, how widespread this kind of exterior plastic was in the villas of the red nomenklatura!) A simple calculation showed that the arch-villain must have lived, and still lives, in an apartment with five rooms and a kitchen. And what a house! What a kitchen! Go on, try not to speak, if you want! Go on, try not to criticize the democratic government and parliament for acting slowly! HAJDA[R?] Z: DANGELLIA Candidate of sciences

DEMOCRATIC PARTY DECLARATION OF THE CANDIDATE FOR DEPUTY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY Accepting the candidacy for deputy of the Democratic Party, under my personal responsibility, I declare as follows: • In my personal life, in my relations at work and in society, I have not been a corrupt person. • I have not been convicted of ordinary crimes. • I have never been involved in intelligence activities in favor of the State Security Service, or the organs of the dictatorship, in connection with political matters. • I have not testified at political trials to the detriment of the accused. • I have not been an official of the leading apparatus of the Party of Labour, in its higher forums. • I have not been a senior official of the monist state apparatus, at the central level (deputy chairman of an Executive Committee or deputy minister or higher). • I undertake to carry out my activity as a professional deputy and to submit to the discipline and decisions of the PD parliamentary group (with the exception of matters of conscience, such as abortion, etc.). PD CANDIDATE FOR DEPUTY Ridvan Peshkëpia Sarandë, 20.2.1992 P.S. This is a standard declaration, signed by all those who, on 22 March 1992, are running for deputy on behalf of the PD, along with others and ourselves, who are now appearing on behalf of the new party called the “Democratic Alliance,” which today is holding its first press conference...; and this ... constitutes a phenomenal paradox, presenting it to us as a parliamentary party?! This is also evident from the above-mentioned fact: some of the conditions in the declaration have been blatantly violated. But without even discussing the moral right of these people (deputies) in their new “tails,” would the PD not have the legal right to revoke their mandate and replace them with its own deputies from the list?... That would also undo the “parliamentary party” paradox...