Albania’s chief diplomat will be received in Washington, D.C., by senior U.S. administration officials and members of Congress Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tritan Shehu has left for the United States Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tritan Shehu left yesterday at the head of an official delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to participate in the proceedings of the 51st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA. According to the approved schedule of proceedings, Albania’s chief diplomat, Prof. Dr. Tritan Shehu, is expected to address the General Assembly on Monday, 30 September. Mr. Shehu is also expected to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty on behalf of the Republic of Albania. During his stay in New York, has been scheduled to hold numerous bilateral meetings with his counterparts, as well as separate meetings with compatriots in New York, Boston, etc. During the next leg of his visit, Albania’s chief diplomat will be received in Washington, D.C., by senior officials of the U.S. administration and members of Congress.

Interview with Mr. Albert Brojka, DP candidate for mayor of Tirana Tirana is the city for which I would like to do everything I possibly can When voters place their hopes in a mayoral candidate, above all they hope that their vital problems will be solved. It is true that the people of Tirana are expecting solutions to the problems of water supply, electricity supply, city cleaning, lighting, housing, etc. If my commitment to solving these problems is called upon, it will be total. PAGE 3

. The electoral campaign for local government is another test of the Socialist Party’s political stability. Two days ago, the Socialist Party’s Secretary General, Mejdani, declared that his party would lose; it is very rare for him to make such a declaration, even when in reality he is claiming no more than 4 percent. The electoral alarm surrounding this party has also engulfed its internal factions, which have met without regard for their party structures and have judged the party leadership’s entire electoral operation to be belated. As it appears, in the local government election campaign we will see a Socialist Party filtered by the separatist processes taking place within it, whose reach will make it very difficult for it to extend across all local structures. The party’s crisis is already evident. So far, we have seen only a few isolated SP conferences in the districts, which have mostly dealt with the “Nano” phenomenon or the “leadership,” or have served as occasions for Mejdani to present himself to the party, rather than discussing campaign issues. The Socialist Party is entering the local election campaign thoroughly fragmented and in a very bleak period organizationally. During the process of identifying groups within it, there has been a major exodus from the party, from its governing forums down to its ordinary members. There are many cases of former party leaders refusing to run for leadership positions, a new trait for this party. Its spread as far as the highest leadership forums has also borne fruit in the form of a dysfunctional campaign. Thus, one of the SP’s main leaders and the second name on the list of this party’s Steering Committee, Namik Dokle, refused to lead the campaign because he would not accept leading a campaign in which defeat was certain. It seems that this party’s collision with problems related to political reform has now determined its atavistic position in Albanian politics. Reformist phenomena, which can take different forms within a political party at this juncture, may lead to its political execution, even in the case of representation as extensive as local representation. Of the roughly four thousand candidacies, the Socialists, who are thinking about defeat before the electoral contest has even properly begun, may win very few. Thus, both the new leadership of the Nano group and that of Klosi Kapo are destined to be sunk by another defeat, which will bring new variants of clan warfare in the SP. The persistence of slogans that still have an ideological flavor in their propaganda, the creation of public figures—which is normal for a party in disintegration—and the total organizational confusion at the start of the campaign point to a left-wing opponent on the brink of electoral capitulation, unable even to test the part of its electorate that remains loyal to the party. In some cases, imitating elements of the DP’s campaign does not free the SP from its deep complicity in opposing reform in Albania and in the anti-democratic developments that its governing forms and methods may bring about, from those within its own party to those it advocates for the governance of local government.

President Berisha receives the Miss Europe contestants Address by the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, delivered at the cocktail reception organized on the occasion of “Miss Europa ’96” at the Palace of Brigades First, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Zejler, President of the International Committee of the World Events Organization, to the members of the Organizing Committee, and to all those who contributed to choosing Albania as the host country and organizing the “Miss Europa ’96” contest in Tirana, as well as to the sponsors of this spectacle. I also have the special pleasure of welcoming from the heart today the representatives of the beauty, grace and elegance of the nations of our continent. Their presence here in recent days, with the crowns of beauty they brought with them to Albania, has transformed Tirana into the capital of beauty queens, and its liveliest rhythms have brought it revival and permanence. But despite all this, one special word is missing among us: Beautiful... [text cut off] For the talented director Vera Grabocka and all her collaborators, this auspicious sign ... European, in the beautiful city of Europe’s beauties, its goddesses. On this occasion, I wish to greet your respected families, and the friendly nations and countries you represent. A young woman who has won the Miss crown in her own country is a source of pride and a symbol of beauty for her country; first and foremost, her family, friends and relatives take pride in her, as does her entire nation and country. I assure you that all Albanians, too, feel very proud to have you among them these days. They have watched with admiration, respect and affection the group of Europe’s fairies who are in Albania these days. A Miss is undoubtedly a graceful goddess who brings people together in admiration of beauty, but she is also a symbol of hope, friendship, understanding, harmony and the future. respect and love among people, countries and peoples. We Albanians, like other peoples, have admired, loved and respected our own “Beauty of the Earth”; we have preserved her in the fullness of our spirit, in the secrets of our hearts, in the ether of legends, in the waves of the seas and in the crystal-clear waterfalls of the mountains; we have dedicated to her our finest verses, our most melodious songs, our dances which party, rather than discussing campaign issues. this artistic event could be nothing other than the most beautiful manifestation of the “Beauty of the Earth” that lay dormant in Albanian legends. And so they brought to life the pageant, the dance of the Albanian Misses, symbols of hope and of a different future for their nation. On this occasion, I congratulate and thank Ms. Vera Grabocka and her team for the long-awaited innovation they have brought to Albanian artistic life. I wish to warmly greet the young women Selimmari, Kola, Zguro, Sako, and all the girls throughout Albania who took part in this contest, in the pageant of beauty, displaying their graces, gifts and virtues and creating the Albanian Miss, who will compete and represent the Albanian girl with dignity in international pageants. And today we are all proud of them. I take this opportunity to greet all the artists of the Albanian stage and screen, from every other genre of art, who are present in this hall, as well as all those who are absent. As worthy heirs to an art and culture that have survived for millennia, they are today, through their gifts, talent and creativity, protagonists of the creative spirit of the Albanian nation; through their work they have made the lives of Albanians more beautiful and more meaningful. Once again, I wish the “Miss Europa ’96” spectacle, its organizers, contestants and winner every success.

—Statements about imaginary manipulation will remain the excuses of the eternal losers Undoubtedly, in these elections too, the DP is the party that presents itself not only with the best program for [text as printed], but also with the most realistic and well-supported program. After four difficult years of governing, the DP has managed not only to build the necessary experience in running the country but, by becoming more familiar with its problems, has also managed to find the best solutions, which it is now offering in its program. The selected candidates are another strong point for the DP. In addition to providing governing experience, the past four years also identified the people and forged the personalities who are respected by the public today. These very people, the best among them, will be the DP’s candidates, giving it another advantage in winning these elections. PAGE 3

ODIHR fell victim to political manipulation From a statement by Professor Victor-Yves Ghebali of the Institut de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Swiss Parliament

Yesterday at 03:30, following a successful operation by the special forces of the Ministry of the Interior, with the forces of Police Station No. 1 in Tirana, criminal Nehat Kulla was surrounded and apprehended. Yesterday at 03:30, following a successful operation by the special forces of the Ministry of the Interior, with the forces of Police Station No. 1 in Tirana, criminal Nehat Kulla was surrounded and apprehended at the home of citizen Mustafa Reshi Koka, at 250 Sali Kodra Street, on a day when the Municipal Police had disappeared. Nehat Kulla had been sought by the police for several months. He is known as the head of a gang involved in the killing of citizen Petrit Meksina from Durrës, the kidnapping of a person ... [unclear text] in March 1996 at the place known as the castle of ... This person has been convicted six times for serious assaults, theft, robbery, rape, and twice for murder. Nehat Kulla was wanted by Interpol and Falot Nanos. During the operation, ... were arrested. [unclear image text] The two common criminals Fatos Nano and Nehat Kulla (dajatuhan) in prison

Shkodër—The election campaign for the local elections of October 20 begins PAGE 2

Press conference by Mr. Besnik Gjongecaj, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research PAGE 2

Why the DP is The problem of monitoring legislative elections