The chairman of the PD, Tritan Shehu, received the OSCE envoy, former Chancellor Vranicki The chairman of the PD, Tritan Shehu, received the OSCE envoy, former Chancellor Franc Vranicki. Mr. Shehu thanked him for the mission and the commitment of the OSCE, emphasizing the readiness and full commitment of the PDSH to cooperate closely with the OSCE and the majority forces to restore calm and order. Our main goal, Mr. Shehu said, is the holding of free and fair elections to be organized in June, but at present they are being hindered by the existence of certain committees. This is also the demand signed by the political parties at the March 9 party roundtable, when the left-wing parties undertook to neutralize these committees within three days. He told Mr. Vranicki that the success of this mission will first and foremost be guaranteed by its neutrality. In this context, its cooperation with the country’s legal institutions at the central and district level is important, as well as with the so-called Rescue Committees operating in several districts of the country, which are illegal and not only obstruct the restoration of order but also do not allow all political forces to carry out a democratic election campaign. Mr. Shehu told Mr. Vranicki that the monthly meeting with members of some committees was interpreted by some as a political recognition of them, encouraging further illegal actions that run counter to any democratic concept. Mr. Vranicki, for his part, stressed that as a negotiator he has only the government, the President of the Republic, and the lawful power, central and local, with which he is cooperating to stabilize the situation and preserve the neutrality of his mission. His goal is to create all democratic conditions for a free and open democratic process without obstacles for any political force. Further aspects of Albania-OSCE cooperation were also discussed.

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TIRANA, 16 April /ANSA/ - A number of citizens staged a protest in the capital in front of the government headquarters, where a delegation from the OSCE, led by the former Austrian chancellor Franc Vranicki, and the Albanian prime minister, Bashkim Fino, were holding their meeting. Carrying banners, the demonstrators call on Vranicki to remain “neutral,” warning the OSCE not to “talk with mafiosi.” The regime of the insurgents, numbering hundreds of people, surrounded a square for tomorrow with a special banner containing the demands of the rebel community in Vlora. Dr. Vranicki has today allowed communications with the government within the framework of his mission. By accusing them of being “mafiosi, traffickers and former communists,” they will seek not to compromise the commitment of his mission. The demonstration was held in the name of the Albanian people with bulletproof clothing and masks on the government road. Uniformed police officers and armed personnel removed a number of people toward the Hotel “Rogner,” where many foreigners had gathered. President of the Republic Sali Berisha had a telephone conversation yesterday with the President of Turkey, Suleyman Demirel, who once again confirmed his full support

Telephone conversation between President Berisha and Turkish President Demirel The President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, had a telephone conversation yesterday with the President of Turkey, Suleyman Demirel, who once again confirmed his full support and that of the Turkish Government for President Berisha and the Government of National Reconciliation, as well as for the political forces of Albania in their efforts to lead the country out of the crisis. President Demirel informed President Berisha that, at the insistence of the Multinational Forces in Albania, Turkey has decided to send a substantial quantity of aid to the country immediately to overcome the situation. The two Presidents emphasized the very great importance of free elections. President Demirel, after thanking President Demirel for all the support that Turkey has given and continues to give to Albania, assured him that he is determined to make every effort for free and fair elections as soon as possible, but stressed that the main obstacle in this regard is the armed northern rebels and mafioso elements with whom the Socialist Party signed an open agreement on 28 March and who are blocking the activity of the Government of National Reconciliation in several districts in the south.

Tirana - Dr. Franc Vranicki, the personal representative of the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), will hold a press conference on Thursday, 17 April. The conference will begin at 18:00 at the Rogner Europa Park Hotel. All media representatives are invited to attend. Dr. Vranicki, former Chancellor of Austria, heads the OSCE’s efforts to establish and advance political stability toward new parliamentary elections in Albania. During the day he will visit and meet members of the Government, Prime Minister Fino and other members of the Government of National Reconciliation, and will meet President Berisha and the leaders of the Albanian political parties. His deputy, recently appointed Ambassador Herbert Grubmayr, other OSCE staff, and representatives of the Council of Europe and the European Union are accompanying Dr. Vranicki during his 2-day visit, which began yesterday.

The creation of military committees, or as they have been named by those who set them up, “Rescue Committees,” is in essence the organization of a military-mafioso rebellion against the constitutional order and public order in Albania. Those who followed the developments of the protests that began with the collapse of the pyramid scheme know that these so-called economic protests were not led by any program or any specific group of people, although the leaders of the opposition did make declarations that they would manage and direct the protests. As is known, the protests in Vlora, Lushnja, Saranda, Tepelena and several other districts initially began as desperate movements for lost money, akin to the movement of Haxhi Qamili, but soon degenerated into a primitive, destructive movement, trivialized to such an extent that blocking roads was done specifically to extort money from people traveling on national roads. How these popular economic protest movements turned into an armed uprising can at present only be speculated about, but it is no accident that at least two foreign radio stations broadcasting in Albanian have the exact date on which policemen were ordered by their state to bring Kalashnikov rifles and other weapons circulating in the “People’s Armed Uprising,” compared with the Haxhi Qamili movement of 1917 in Albania. Identifying the Haxhi Qamilis as “rescue committees” Precisely at this moment, when the designation changes from protesters to insurgents, the people are identified who for weeks in the abandoned cities had looted warehouses, terrorized state administration and police employees, organized, led and carried out the burning of public and state institutions, as well as widespread destruction in cultural institutions. The identification of these people is no longer simply identification for the purposes of voice; some of them influenced the protesting masses, but in any case they emerge on another plane as saviors of cities in a state of chaos. The so-called Rescue Committees constitute precisely the legalization of burnings, destruction, killings and primitive looting. Armed with all kinds of weapons, no more and no less, the “rescue” committees declared that they would defend the cities! From whom? That is the simplest question that could be asked in this case. The answer is provided by the committee leaders themselves, who declare that they will defend the cities from Berisha? How do they still think that is possible, and that Berisha is the cause, while the opposition, the press, etc., have not been burned, killed or destroyed, but rather have lived normal lives, have lived better than 50 years ago together, have received their land, their property, have accumulated their wealth, have freely expressed their ideas, even systematically denigrating, insulting and slandering President Berisha? How, then, can Berisha after 5 years of work at the head of the country for the development of these cities and of the whole country be the cause, and suddenly become their greatest threat, so that within a day they remain under the attack of the defenders of Gjolek Malaj or Albert Shyti, who comes especially from Greece to defend the city? It is hard even for people of limited intelligence to believe such fairy tales, no matter that the “saviors,” the opposition figures, the diplomats or whoever they are tell them. As a reminder, one could also ask the “saviors” of the cities: Who killed those who burned institutions, libraries, cadastres, national historical values, when museums were looted and burned, when everything was destroyed by the salted people of these districts during their difficult agriculture? Everyone knows very well, because they have seen them with hatred and fire in hand, so the disguise of the “savior” looks extremely ridiculous, however much the articles written by the enormous editorial drag kings are doing everything possible to present them to public opinion as Albanian angels of the new Haxhi Qamili at the end of the century. From “salvation” and “charity” to the attribute of representation Since there are rather news reports according to which the thieves of money have begun distributing pensions, or even worse, Gjolek Malaj has taken the interesting initiative of reopening schools. These acts of “charity” and “civility” are essentially nothing new, because even before they spent the stolen flour or committed similar acts. What is worrying in these movements is the characterization in the newspaper that “Gjolek Malaj” are not romantic people of their own and a pre-packaging of the “deeds” of these committees, but their assurance in the deeds of assuming the attributes of representation, turning into a power that acts as a central and local power together in the districts during his difficult agriculture? Everyone knows very well, because they have seen them with hatred and fire in hand, so the disguise of the “savior” looks extremely ridiculous, however much the articles written by the enormous editorial drag kings are doing everything possible to present them to public opinion as Albanian angels of the new Haxhi Qamili at the end of the century. This is simply to say that they demand free elections, not that they meet with Vranicki or others like Vranicki, that they sign with the PS or Godo, but above all they endanger and seek to undertake and replace democracy, political pluralism and the country as a whole. Of course, not because Albert Shyti can sit next to Arta Dade in the People’s Assembly, but because, as the “people’s commissar” Frok Çupi himself requested, the opposition politicians are poster figures (except for Arben Imami and Ridvan Bode), which means that the Committee (national-liberation) would not allow even the least of the power, nor share it, according to the practice of Enver Hoxha in 1944. 1945. Because the Committees also have clear evidence of their aims. They did not stop before the resignation of the Meksi Government, nor before the creation of the Government of National Reconciliation, nor perhaps before the June elections.

Pëllumbi on Nano: He is like Hoxha In an interview given to the Italian newspaper “Corriere Della Sera,” the former chairman of the PS, Pëllumbi, says that he resigned from his party because he had seen Nano increasingly identifying himself with E. Hoxha. Has Imami lost his mind? He says: “I have never been upset when I have taken a political action, wondering whether I would suffer consequences or not.” Imami has reached this conclusion about his own situation. He made it known yesterday in an interview given to the newspaper “KJ.” What orders the President of Turkey “If the President of Turkey Demirel does not call the President of Albania Sali Berisha.” Ceka gave this “order” yesterday at the Turkish Embassy, where leaders of various political forces were present in a meeting with the parliamentary delegation of the Turkish Assembly. The chairman of the Turkish Assembly committee, Sedat Aloglu, had tried to explain to the Albanian politician that such phone calls are normal between heads of state. Discussion at the meeting of the National Council Jemin GJANA I am not struck by the theft of flour or some other goods from warehouses, but by the fact that Albania lacks honesty, honor, archives, schools, libraries, theaters and cultural houses; they struck the center of Butrint, Apollonia, Dyrrah [?], Ermit [?], that is, the voice of the people. This is a good way to burn Albania, with everything that Albania was: a state that defends freedom, but not only. They have left behind this free spirit, with shared borders in a state that defends freedom, but it has shared borders and no longer has even the means to defend its army; they dismantled it, or the army was dismantled for them. Page 4

Municipalities and Communes will decide Order no. 488 dated 16.04.1997 of the commander of operations for the reopening and normal functioning of schools In implementation of the law of the People’s Assembly No. 8195 dated 3.3.1997 “On certain measures within the framework of the state of emergency,” and in view of the situation created and the importance of education in the country, I order: 1. The district defense штабs, in accordance with the level of restoration of public order in municipalities and communes, shall decide on the reopening of schools. 2. The start of classes in those schools that will be reopened shall be on 21.04.1997. 3. Order of the State of Emergency Headquarters No. 7/1 dated 3.3.1997 on the closure of schools is repealed. 4. For the implementation of this Order, I assign the commanders of the State of Emergency Headquarters in the districts. 5. This order enters into force immediately. Commander of operations BELUL ÇELO

NATIONAL LIBRARY. TIRANA