President of the EDU on 29 June in Albania: ON PAGE 2

Three dead and three wounded in Lushnjë ON PAGE 4

ALBA confronts emigrants bound for Greece ON PAGE 4

. Nano, Fino, Baraj and Tusha repeat the political crime of 2 April in the capital. Albanians threatened by a new communist dictatorship. Prime Minister Bashkim Fino yesterday ordered the killing of at least one citizen and the wounding of several others, who were shot by police during a peaceful rally that several hundred supporters of Leka i Parë were holding in front of the CEC building. Deputy Interior Minister Baraj, newly appointed to his post, and Tirana Police Director Pashk Tusha are directly responsible for the crime that stained the square in front of the Palace of Congresses red yesterday, while the Albanian socialists used violence and gave the first signs that they are seeking to establish a new communist dictatorship in Albania. The protesters were provoked by the police as they were demonstrating peacefully in front of the CEC, following claims that the referendum had been won in favor of the monarchy, but that, according to them, had been manipulated by the socialists. All eyewitnesses, except perhaps some communist journalists, said that the police fired first, also causing panic among the protesters. The initially low-key conflict between the monarchists and the Socialist Party began with a statement by Socialist leader Fatos Nano, who, just hours after the polls closed, declared that the monarchy had lost, receiving no more than 20 percent of Albanians’ votes. Although there were still no exact figures showing his party’s victory, Nano used abusive and insulting language about Albanian citizens who had voted for Leka i Parë, saying he would drive the monarchy out of Albania. Preliminary results, which according to the royalists favored the monarchy, but especially Nano’s statement, increased Leka i Parë’s supporters’ suspicions that the referendum vote was being manipulated on a massive scale by the Albanian left, which had placed the electoral process under the control of its armed gangs. Suspicions of large-scale falsification grew with every official referendum figure released by the CEC. Although these figures did not show the monarchist option winning, they were low and at times higher than the 20 percent Fatos Nano had announced. The monarchists’ suspicions of manipulation turned into certainty when the left-wing press itself began to show profound contradictions over the monarchy’s result: some newspapers, such as “Koha Jonë,” said the monarchy had won 45 percent, while “Zëri i Popullit” and “Indipendent” said it had received no more than 20 percent. The war of statements ended yesterday when Prime Minister Fino ordered the police to stop the protesters, many of whom had come to Tirana from other Albanian cities, outraged. The Albanian prime minister took responsibility for the bloody crime in a grim statement several hours after the killing and injuries, and several hours after the attempt to instill terror and panic among all Albanians. Fino’s threatening language was as harsh as the merciless orders given by Deputy Minister Baraj and Tirana Police Director Pashk Tusha to fire on the crowd of protesters. Nano’s false statements about the monarchy’s figures and Fino’s language as a communist dictator leave no doubt that the two of them ordered the monstrous crime that brought 2 April back to Shkodër once again. But by using even harsher terms for Ahmet Zogun, even harsher terms for Eduard Zogun, even more often—and Enver Hoxha himself used them, Enver Hoxha himself used them, Enver Hoxha himself used them... (continued on page 3) Police fire on the monarchists’ peaceful rally. One killed and five wounded

President Berisha’s appeal for restraint Berisha urges Albanian royalists and socialists to avoid any kind of conflict and to await with dignity and patience the referendum result announced by the Central Electoral Commission President of the Republic Sali Berisha yesterday called on all Albanians to exercise self-restraint and refrain from any violence. “Violence only leaves us all losers,” he stressed, while calling on voters to hold the second round of elections in the interests of the country and its future. He urged Albanian royalists and socialists to avoid any kind of conflict and to await with dignity and patience the referendum results announced by the Central Electoral Commission, which is working with great dedication and in accordance with all legal procedures. Prejudging the results by any side is entirely futile. The people’s verdict will be respected.

PD condemns violence against monarchist demonstrators The Democratic Party of Albania condemns the violence, criminal killings and injuries inflicted today on thousands of monarchist demonstrators, which culminated in snipers hastily positioned opening fire on a group of demonstrators gathered in front of the Palace of Congresses. The Democratic Party declares that those responsible for this response in Tirana are the very same people who bloodied Shkodër on 2 April 1991, and insists that those who ordered people to be fired upon be investigated, identified and brought to justice. The Democratic Party considers the initial cause of this tension to have been the hasty statement by the chairman of the SP, Fatos Nano, who announced—before any official results had yet emerged—that the Monarchy had won only 20%, while that same day the SP representatives on the Central Election Commission reported that the figure was 40%. The Albanian Democratic Party stresses that the violence that bloodied Tirana today is the Socialist Party’s unscrupulous political revenge. Those responsible for the response in Tirana are the state security structures, which are trying to take control of government departments in an unconstitutional and illegal manner. We consider that Prime Minister Fino’s statements, laden with the denigrating language used in the time of E. Hoxha, serve only to heighten tensions. The Albanian Democratic Party calls on all citizens to show restraint, remain calm and give no grounds for provocations or incidents. The people’s verdict on the form of government must be absolutely respected by everyone, the PD press statement concludes.

Millosheviç’s party rejoices at the SP’s victory AFP — The victory of the Albanian Socialists in the first round of the early legislative elections on 29 June “will help normalize the situation in Albania,” said a leader of the Serbian Socialist Party (SPS), the party of President Slobodan Millosheviç, in Belgrade on Thursday. “This victory and the defeat of President Sali Berisha mark the collapse of Tirana’s policy of unconditional support for Kosovo’s separatists,” declared Ivica Dacic, the SPS spokesperson, quoted by the Tanjug news agency. “President Berisha has always been the leader of the Albanians of Kosovo,” Dacic said. The statement by the senior Serbian Socialist leader that Kosovo Albanians will no longer have Albania’s support once the former Communists come to power came immediately after Millosheviç sent his congratulations to Fatos Nano, expressing his wish and conviction that they would cooperate.

Fino fires shots 200 meters from his office Before him, Nano did almost the same thing in Shkodër and Ylli Bufi in Fushë-Arrëz ON PAGE 3 Fino fires shots 200 meters from his office The third Socialist prime minister to kill Before him, Nano did almost the same thing in Shkodër and Ylli Bufi in Fushë-Arrëz ON PAGE 3

The Carter Center: Sharp criticism of the 29 June elections “The fact that the OSCE has given up this monitoring is a very serious mistake,” he further says, stressing that if irregularities occur and the elections are manipulated, observers must say so openly and not remain silent ON PAGE 2 The Carter Center: Sharp criticism of the 29 June elections The OSCE made a grave mistake in Albania “The fact that the OSCE has given up this monitoring is a very serious mistake,” he further says, stressing that if irregularities occur and the elections are manipulated, observers must say so openly and not remain silent. ON PAGE 2

President Berisha accepts the resignation of the Interior Minister The Interior Minister, Belul Çelo, resigned yesterday. In a written request, Çelo asked the President to accept his irrevocable resignation for personal reasons. President Berisha accepted and issued a decree yesterday approving the resignation submitted by Interior Minister Belul Çelo, according to a statement from the Presidency’s press office. The left-wing press announced Çelo’s “arrest” the day before yesterday, while Bashkim Fino immediately rushed to replace him with the Socialist Perparim. The Socialists’ attempt to take control of the Interior Ministry was rightly described as an attempt by Nano and Fino to carry out a coup d’état. The speculation by the left-wing press and former Communists concerning former minister Çelo has now definitively come to an end.

The two scenes from the tragic event. Those who fired and those who took cover from the bullets in yesterday’s massacre