At the end of yesterday's session of the People's Assembly, the chairman of the DP parliamentary group, Mr. Pjetër Minga, made the following statement: STATEMENT The deputies of the DP Parliamentary Group protest against the despicable conduct of deputy speaker Rritvan Peshkëpia and A. Imami toward journalists Afrim Krasniqi and Ylli Rakipi. The act of thuggery committed by these two members of our Parliament is neither the first nor an isolated incident; we have also seen them behaving this way in Parliament, taking arrogant stances and expressing themselves in brutal terms. But their latest action against the two journalists, (Continued on page 4)

Comrade Fatos Nano: The world may shut its doors to you; Albanians will turn their backs on you — The Enverist Nano keeps Enver's bust in his heart — F. Nano, the little gentleman of the m-l paragraphs, the lecturer at the institute of moldy doors of dreams, the “klosoli” of the liars of the communist One Thousand and One Nights and an Enverist of the last ranks, the broken segment of communism's debauched Bolshevik image and the arsonist of today's democracy, has launched a “winter operation” against the democratic state and democratic government. But Fatos will fail in his quixotic operation. FIRST, because he has blindly gone back half a century to copy his ideator, E. Hoxha, in his winter incursion. Thus, here he presents a mediocre politician, caught up in the winter dreams shown to him by Comrade Nexhmije while he was her student. Consequently, like a primitive politician, he seeks to apply a scheme of proletarian revolution, of violently overthrowing the democratic state, in an era of democracy's triumph. This makes him utterly anti-historical, and therefore a failure and out of step with the times. SECOND: Comrade Fatos's winter operation is thoroughly wintry—for the king of the Albanian Enverists, in its vulgarity, in the political metaphors he uses and in the snow soldiers he has. Only the humor of Asis Nesini and Kola Jakova has exposed his short overcoat, his little steps, and his deep voice imitating Enver. His operation is undoubtedly thoroughly wintry also because he is trying to plunge Albania into a real winter, with his ideas of turning back, his adventurism in seeking to overthrow the democratic government, and his collection of phrases intended to lead us to a new crossroads. THIRD: the political map of Comrade Fatos's winter operation is a mistaken political conclusion stemming from his sick ego—from Enverist methods of eliminating the genuine socialist wing within the PS, and from the Byzantine scheming and Bolshevik banditry that he represents. you, while Albanians will turn their backs on you.” Albanians still vividly remember your sigh at “Rinas” airport as I was returning from England in my capacity as Prime Minister of Albania, with not a penny in my pocket and not a kind word to hear. Europe recognized your Enverist face even then. (Didn't you declare in Switzerland in November 1992 that E. Hoxha was the most illustrious figure of all time and that every Albanian has an Enver in their heart?) It was once again the Socialist International MUJË BUCPAPAJ (Continued on page 4)

— Mr. Eduard Selami meets with the Egyptian ambassador —

— President Berisha received a group of government and PS leaders from several districts — On Tuesday afternoon, President of the Republic Sali Berisha received a group of leaders, including district and municipal mayors as well as PS committee members from the districts of Fier, Berat, Skrapar, Ballsh and Kuçovë. The local government and PS leaders in these districts expressed to the President their concerns about several issues affecting them, such as difficulties in the functioning of local government and the swelling of the local administration; excessive centralization by the central executive authorities; poor coordination among the various levels of local government and administration; the appointment of incapable personnel to various positions; and failure to respect the competitive selection process for municipal secretaries. At the meeting, they also presented the President with other concerns and specific problems affecting the districts they lead. At the meeting, the President of the Republic stressed that good and efficient governance. He has personally insisted, and will (Continued on page 4)

The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, welcomed the position of American President Bill Klinton concerning the repressive situation in Kosovo, in a statement addressed to the President of Serbia, Slobodan Milosheviç. President Rugova said this was a concrete step toward ending the violence and preventing conflict in Kosovo. It was also support for the peaceful resistance of the people of Kosovo. On this occasion, Dr. Rugova also sent a letter of thanks to the American president. (ATSH)

- Is “Alternativa SD” a political platform for the PSD? - The last communist prime minister, Wilson Ahmeti, was arrested. The financial scandal involving 1,600,000 dollars given to the Frenchman Arsidi dominated the newspapers, the news, and the political platforms. The political forces reacted, each with its own originality and authenticity. The renewed former communists of the PS took up the position of lawyers for corruption. The scandal extends further. The firms Iliria-Holding and Levant - Co, along with the other appendices of communist corruption, dominated the socialists’ ambitions for absolute political and economic power. Hajdin Sej- ... The reaction that remains most unexpected for public opinion is that of the newspaper “Alternativa SD,” the newspaper of the third party that won in the March 22 elections and of the anti-coalition— (Continued on page 4)

Only the humor of Asis Nesini and Kolë Jakova could describe his short overcoat, his short steps, and his deep voice imitating Enve- (Continued on page 4) A Raid at the Democratic Party Headquarters - Mr. Eduard Selami meets with the Egyptian ambassador - Yesterday, at midday, the chairman of the Democratic Party, Mr. Eduard Selami, received the Egyptian ambassador in Tirana, Mr. Ahmad Nabawy Issa, at the Democratic Party headquarters. After expressing his pleasure at the meeting, the ambassador conveyed to the chairman of the PDSH an invitation from the chairman of the Democratic Party of Egypt to visit his country. He then gave an overview of the historical and cultural ties between the two peoples. “I am here,” the ambassador said, “to give concrete form to and further advance the fruitful understanding reached at the meeting between our two presidents.” Mr. Selami thanked him for the invitation and promised that he would accept it at a suitable time. He informed the ambassador of the PDSH’s regard for Egypt and its desire to establish good relations with President Mubarak’s Democratic Party. The talks also focused particularly on the situation in the Balkan region, and especially on the current situation in the former Yugoslavia. Mr. Issa confirmed that Albania represents an element of stability in the region and spoke in favor of a more concrete and fruitful policy by the European Community in the former Yugoslavia. Press and Information Office of the Democratic Party

The No. 2 leader of the “Democratic Alliance,” an independent MP, actor, and spokesman for anti-presidential statements, with little intellectual and political courage, lied to the Albanian Parliament on the afternoon of March 1. Replying to MP Arben Lika’s accusation concerning the incident involving MPs Imami and Pashkëpia and journalist Afrim Krasniqi, he declared that he had nothing to do with that incident, did not know the aforementioned journalist, and had never met him. Thus Imami misinformed Parliament. But will Mr. Imami also defend this false statement in the courtroom? The coming days will prove it. THE OBSERVER

- Total U.S. assistance amounts to 63 million dollars. - An emergency air shipment of medicines and medical equipment worth 750,000 dollars has arrived in Albania from the United States. The United States Agency for International Development announced on February 26 that the shipment was supplied “to help address the severe shortages this winter.” The Agency reports that its one-million-dollar aid contribution and Project “Shpresë” made it possible to purchase medical equipment, coordinate the shipment to Albania, and supervise the equitable distribution of the equipment to hospitals throughout the country. The Albanian Minister of Health and a group consisting of three specialists welcomed the DC-8 aircraft, which landed in Tirana, the capital of Albania. The representative of the Agency for International Development in Albania worked with representatives of Project “Shpresa” to identify the country’s most urgent health-care needs and address them. The Project also plans to train Albanians in the storage and use of medicines and medical equipment. The shipment included antibiotics, cardiac medicines, vitamins, needles, syringes, stethoscopes, and other essential equipment. This is not the first shipment from the United States. According to the Agency for International Development, since September 1991 medicines and medical equipment worth 2 million dollars have been sent to Albania through the aforementioned Project. Total United States aid to Albania amounts to more than 63 million dollars. Of this total, 42 million has been food aid. Reprinted from the Bulletin of the American Cultural Center

Cigarette smuggling, one of the issues that reflects the degree of corruption of the communist regime. Cigarette smuggling is one of the issues that reflects the degree of corruption of the communist regime. It is one of those issues that has often been discussed and is well known. Much is said without knowing anything. It may seem like a paradox, but it is a reality: although it seems that everything is known about this problem, no one presents concrete facts to shed light on the “mystery.” Various opinions circulate and create nothing but confusion, which shows that the information on this matter either came from sources that were insufficiently informed or was fabricated in such a way as to create nothing but confusion. Nevertheless, people who may have shed light on this issue, whether here or abroad, do exist. On one occasion, I happened to meet an ex-sailor near the Ministry store, Vil?torio Emanuel Buselo, one of the former sailors on the Italian ship that carried out the cigarette-smuggling runs from Albania to Italy. He had started working on this ship in 1962, and had made his last trip to Albania at the beginning of 1989. “At first,” he said, “we loaded in Lezhë; later they began loading at the port of Durrës. A few times we also loaded at a port located opposite Greece.” Buseta did not know how the cigarettes entered Albania; he only knew that they came from Holland and were kept in Albanian warehouses until they were loaded onto the Italian ships. At the port, the boxes of cigarettes arrived in military trucks and were unloaded by Albanian soldiers. Asked whether the soldiers knew what the boxes contained, he replied: “Of course. The unloading took place in front of many other people, and besides, there were many Albanian officials on the ship who, before getting off, never failed to stuff cigarette packs into every part of their bodies.” According to Buseta, the Italian ship made the trip several times a month and rarely had problems. “It happened that it had made [the trip] port located opposite Greece.’ stuff cigarette packs into every part of their bodies.’” (The information was taken from a conversation between the journalist and the sailor, when the latter did not know he was speaking with a journalist, but thought he was talking to a curious Albanian. When the journalist’s questions became more probing and persistent, the sailor withdrew. He found ways to evade questions about the names and tonnage of the ships, the amount of money in circulation, and the mention of any Albanian officials’ names.) Also, according to Buseta, the ship [with the] cigarettes arrived [and they were transported] in military trucks and of their bodies.” (Continued on page 2)

From the testimony of one of the former Italian sailors on the ships that carried out cigarette smuggling, V. E. Buselo (Continued on page 2)

No. 309 Thursday, 4 March 1993 Price: 3 lekë