Government cigarettes are blocking the Shkodër market ON PAGE 4

Does Fatos Klosi know whom he has appointed in Elbasan?! ON PAGE 4

Brokaj promotes the gang of arch-bandit Zani ON PAGE 4

The DP’s Secretary General, Ridvan Bode, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Jozefina Topalli, former Speaker of the People’s Assembly Pjetër Arbnori, and MP Ylli Vejsiu are stopped by officers of the Republican Guard, armored vehicles and special forces at the entrance to the Mifol Bridge. The government kicks National Reconciliation aside. A shameful act by Nano, Fino, Ceka, Brokaj and Gjinushi Great grief in Vlorë, Fier and Lushnjë. Neritan Ceka replaces Zani Çaushi Armored vehicles of the Minister of the Interior stop the Democratic Party delegation at the Mifol Bridge Yesterday, the rule of the gangs carried out one of the most shameful scenes of its governance. Two Guard officers, a group of police officers and members of the special forces, reinforced by an armored vehicle, stopped at the Mifol Bridge the four representatives of the Democratic Party who were going to Vlorë to attend the funeral ceremony for the victims of Otranto. The DP’s Secretary General, Ridvan Bode, Deputy Speaker of the People’s Assembly and Prof. Dr. Ylli Vejsiu, who made up the DP delegation, were stopped on an order from Tirana, as the Guard officer put it, from attending a mourning ceremony. In Albanian custom, even an enemy is not barred from attending the funeral of a victim. But this time, it was the enemies themselves who held the ceremony. This was also the absurdity that has gripped Albanians and Albania for some time. The enemies themselves—the most shameless and criminal ones, the real killers of Otranto, Bashkim Fino and Arben Malaj, the killers of around 2,000 Albanians, Sabit Brokaj, Fatos Nano and Neritan Ceka—were almost the same people who burned Fushë-Arrëz in ’91 and killed in Shkodër in ’92. They were the ones who freed Ramiz Alia from prison and declared him innocent, while stopping Pjetër Arbnori with an armored vehicle. As Bode said yesterday, those who caused the victims appropriated the victims. The socialist rulers, in collaboration with the criminals they have elevated into the police and positions of power, carried out the greatest blow to National Reconciliation. They struck at every possibility that political parties might have had to bring about coexistence. To achieve this, neither TV, nor SHIK, nor threats—even bullets in Parliament—were enough for them. So they turned to their victims. They used the dead as an opportunity to strike at the DP and somewhat gloss over the crime they themselves committed. This is macabre. The socialist rulers have no respect even for the dead. They have mocked the grief of the victims’ families. This will also be remembered by the woman who allowed her name to be used in a deranged statement written in the Prime Minister’s offices and read on TV. No one, not even Ylli Bufi and Ramiz Alia, did anything so inhumane to those burned in Fushë-Arrëz. By stopping the DP delegation with an armored vehicle, they leapt into dividing the country. Someone else had apparently thought of making Mifol a border. It never occurred to them that this is precisely what our rulers too have had in mind and planned. The armored vehicle of Mother Cola and Fatos Nano could not divide the country. They cannot separate the DP from Vlorë or from the other southern districts. Nor can they prevent grief and the victims. All the democrats of Albania have felt deep sorrow over the Otranto tragedy. From Sarandë to Tropojë, however much this criminal regime tries to divide the solidarity of Albanians in grief and hardship, it will be unable to do so. Hundreds of democrats from Vlorë and other districts attended the funeral ceremony. They attended and offered condolences to the families because they were unburdened by the complex of (continues on page 3)

Berisha responds to the SP’s accusations: Manipulation of the souls of the victims Berisha responds to the SP’s accusations: Manipulation of the souls of the victims Fabrications to attack political opponents “Kohli, Prodi, Santer and 500 other party leaders did not gather in Tulusë to invent my alibi”

Bode: In Vlora, we would have been like thousands of others, and would have brought flowers and our condolences to the victims of Otranto The Democratic Party delegation was not allowed yesterday to go to Vlora to attend the funeral ceremonies in honor of the Otranto victims. Delegation members Bode, Arbnori, Topalli and Vejsiu said at a press conference that they had been stopped by force at around 14:00 by police officers and soldiers while crossing the Mifol bridge, 20 km from the city of Vlora. The officers, armed and accompanied by an armored vehicle, Arbnori said, blocked us with a convoy and ordered us not to continue toward the city, as they had been instructed to do by Tirana. One of them, an officer from the Directorate for the Protection of Personalities, said that they had been waiting since seven in the morning to block us. Arbnori said that the armored vehicle positioned at the far end of the bridge blocked our way and did not allow our cars to move forward with the procession accompanying the victims’ coffins, warning us that they would also use force. ON PAGE 3

Prodi in Vlora

The order to stop the deputies was issued by the Ministry of the Interior, specifically by the minister himself Interior Minister Neritan Ceka stated that the leaders of the Democratic Party who intended to attend the funeral ceremony for the Otranto victims had been stopped by the Vlora Police. He denied that an order to stop them had been issued, while failing to say that the officers of the Republic Guard who carried out this disgraceful order were under the command of the Vlora Police. Ceka also knows that the TV station is not controlled by the Vlora Police Directorate, nor does he know the officers whom it has kept posted at the corner of the bridge for two days and two nights in a row. Nor could the Vlora Police have controlled the funeral ceremony organizing committee, which sabotaged the PD delegation’s journey by every means. It is hard to imagine any Albanian believing that the head of this committee takes orders from the police officers on duty at Fumuri. The order was issued only by you, just as you yourself received an order. Your actions constitute a violation of human rights and of the freedom of movement guaranteed by constitutional provisions, for which you will one day be held accountable.

After its victory in the Constitutional Court, VEFA promises to repay the money by the end of the year ON PAGE 5

Meeting of the DP Presidium. Berisha: The meetings in Tulusë were successful and important At its meeting yesterday, the presidium of the Democratic Party was informed about the participation and successful meetings of the chairman of the PDSh, Mr. Sali Berisha, and the deputy chairman, Mr. Genc Pollo, who took part in the congress of the European People’s Parties in Touluzë, France. Mr. Berisha emphasized that the PDSh’s participation in this event, one of the most important gatherings of Europe’s center-right parties, was of great importance. At this Congress, the Albanian delegation held a large number of meetings with representatives of sister parties. Berisha provided information about the Congress resolution on Albania and Kosovo and said that delegations from the European Parliament would soon come to Albania to see the situation in the country and the ongoing violations of the law by those in power. Further details about this event will be provided at a press conference to be held tomorrow at noon. At the same meeting, it was decided to establish an organizing group for the celebration of December 8, ’90, the historic day of democracy in Albania. The commission will be chaired by the PDSh deputy chairman, Genc Pollo, Azem Hajdari and Alban Brojka.

“Kohli, Prodi, Santer and 500 other party leaders did not gather in Tulusë to invent my alibi” did not gather in Tulusë to invent my alibi” ON PAGE 3