Secret report by chief inspector Arapi, Mediani, Zogaj and the upstart Bufit, involved with other companies ON PAGE 5

Minister Malaj insults Kola of “ZP”: Where did you see the police officers I sent to Bundo? ON PAGE 5

“Rilindja Demokratike” will soon resume publication of the File of the Rebellion. The pages of RD will recount everything that happened last year in Saranda, Delvinë, Gjirokastër, Përmet, Berat, etc.

World Bank: Albania—the most corrupt country among all the states in transition Europe examines the Tirana government under the microscope. Shocking statement by the European troika

By Astrit PATOZI Prime Minister Nano and his government officials were assisted yesterday at a conference against smuggling, on the very same day that Albania was “honored” with first place for the highest corruption index among all countries in transition. While Fatos Nano was delivering to those present one of his tedious speeches, full of “all-inclusive” phrases against the involvement of his officials in smuggling and other illegal trafficking, the European troika declared that contemporary Albania was swimming in crime and corruption. The troika's labeling, despite the reserved diplomatic language used in some places, is in fact a very serious accusation: that in Albania the fight against corruption has become a stage for those in power, and that a great deal of energy is being spent on it, including a fight among their own ranks. In most cases, these masquerades are orchestrated at the heart of the Prime Minister's Office, where Kastriot Islami is in charge; he recruits attractive young women for this special fight, and even their husbands. These contrived conflicts usually make use of the recordings of a group of irresponsible and easily manipulated reporters, who change newsrooms more often than summer shirts in hot weather. Accustomed to the vanity of their egos, they find it all too easy to be thrilled by the “confidential accounts” of some government official, especially when that official's office is in the Prime Minister's Office. Before claiming that he will fight this corruption, Fatos Nano must explain where he got the money to give a $10,000 watch to the minister most frequently accused of smuggling, Arben Malaj. At least one million Albanians witnessed the statement, in the style of the “Lumi i Vlorës” of the rebellion period, that the Finance Minister made public on television. If Arben Malaj and Fatos Nano are rich not because of their own efforts but because of the benefits afforded them by their corrupt power, they should at least stop flaunting it in the faces of Albanians who have nothing to eat or can barely make it through the month on borrowed money because of the poverty that has engulfed them since last year. When Ceka goes too far and attacks Malaj as the chief smuggler, responsible for the loss of at least 100 million dollars, either the Finance Minister should rot in prison as a mafioso, or the former Interior Minister should be admitted to a psychiatric hospital in his birthplace. At best, the latter should leave the coalition of the corrupt together with his party, if he does not want the stigma of smuggling to weigh on his own shoulders and those of the PAD as well. But it seems that Ceka's “rebellion” has nothing to do with his principles, but with resentment or factional discontent within the governing coalition. It is no coincidence that Arben Malaj, at the so-called anti-corruption conference, found it appropriate to settle accounts with INSIG director Sherif Bundo, with whom he is embroiled in a struggle to control the institution's invested funds. For these reasons, Fatos Nano—even if he delivered the most beautiful speeches in the world about fighting corruption and organized dozens of conferences where every refined language in the world was spoken—cannot save himself and his government from the terrible description that occupied only two lines in the European troika's statement. On the same day, Albania was classified as prey to violent crime and smuggling, and as the champion of state corruption. A government could hardly do worse to its country in such a short time. With its tedious statements and “all-inclusive” phrases against the involvement of its officials in smuggling and all kinds of an extremely serious accusation that classifies the left-coalition administration as a mafia government, which is working to ruin its own country in a very short time in power. One need only look at the corruption index curve, which began climbing at the start of last year, precisely when the offices of the former communists approached power, to see clearly that this gang of mafiosi has turned into a locust on the fragile body of the Albanian state. The great concern about the “high level of violent crime and corruption” is, in fact, the West’s real assessment of the government in Tirana. The Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the OSCE have now concluded that they are dealing with an administration in Albania that is corrupt to the core. On the other hand, if a country is described as having failed in the face of crime, there are two possibilities: either the government itself kills or encourages criminals, or, in the best case, it is powerless to confront them. In Albania, the first has been demonstrated on quite a few occasions, when those in power have raised their hand against the opposition. This includes the now familiar physical elimination of political opponents, as happened in Tropojë, when shots were fired to kill Hajdari and Minarolli, who—God knows how—escaped certain death. But how are the left coalition and its members reacting to the West’s shocking findings about the involvement of some of their people in smuggling and corruption? For some time now, newspapers have been taken over by so-called disputes between current and former government officials, with the various coalitions accusing one another of smuggling and corruption. At a time when no one is taking account of the government officials’ links to illegal trafficking—and even Nano himself is not exempt from this rule—the exchanges in the press seem intended to reveal the true scale of government smuggling. If the cigarette market throughout the country has been left with the laughable quota of 17 tons, while the fantastic profits have gone into the pockets of government officials with the biggest epaulettes, the Malaj-Çeka, Çeka-Bleta, Malaj-Bunda and Majko-Malaj pairings look like children’s fights with wooden slippers. The smuggling remains fully exposed; this whole “heap” is being created to give the impression of

Wave of violence and terror against the Democratic Party ON PAGE 2

After Baxhaku’s departure, difficulty finding the editor-in-chief of “Gazeta shqiptare”

The Democratic Party leadership meets. The election campaign was not free and fair Yesterday afternoon, the leadership of the Democratic Party met, under the direction of its Chairman, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha. The meeting analyzed: 1. The results of the partial local elections 2. The violence, terror, arrests and killings directed against the opposition, carried out by the ruling clique 3. The discussions and conclusions of the European Parliamentary Troika The leadership of the Democratic Party found that the election campaign had not been free and fair. It was characterized by police violence, intimidation and violence at polling stations, abuse of the state media, and falsification of results. The leadership of the PDSH congratulates the Electoral Headquarters of “Union for Democracy,” headed by Mr. Genc Pollo, and all the members and activists of the DP in Kavajë, Shijak, Proger, Lazarat and Bushtricë, on the excellent result they achieved. It notes with satisfaction the deep disenchantment of the electorate with the smuggling coalition, but also notes organizational shortcomings and defects in several DP branches. The DP leadership highly values the European Troika’s denunciation of violent crime and government corruption in Albania, the government’s antidemocratic stance toward the Constitutional Court, and the government’s failure to fulfill its declaration and establish institutions to implement the Troika’s January declaration. The DP leadership believes that the new views on the constitutional process are a new development in the government’s exclusionary stance toward the opposition, and considers that its proposals for this process lead toward its normalization. At its meeting, the DP leadership denounced the ruling clique as a clique that has organized and planned political killings, attacks, ambushes and arrests targeting opposition members. It holds the Albanian government responsible for the killing of Bashkim Shkurti; the ambush against MPs Vili Minarolli and Azem Hajdari in Tropojë; the wounding of journalist Bardhyl Pollo and three aides; the hideous attack against members of the DP National Council, Ali Kazazi and Astrit Bushati, in Postribë; and the wounding of Sadik Ymeri, chairman of the Municipal Council in Postribë. The DP leadership considers the killings of its activists Ferdinand Shehu in Gjirokastër and Bashkim Shkurti, as well as the arrests and detentions of 18 of its activists in Kolonjë and Tiranë, to have been planned. The DP leadership decided to determine all forms of resistance in the face of attacks by the ruling clique and, on July 6, it will convene the National Council to make all its decisions in response to state terror.

The European Troika at yesterday’s press conference

Penalty shootouts punish England -The Croats’ triumph in the Balkan derby -Germany, the ruthless team. -Beckenbauer explains the World Cup’s poor standard -Blatter: “it is a balanced World Cup” -Bergkamp, Holland’s dangerous striker, is afraid of cars and planes SPECIAL FEATURE ON PAGES 10–11