The Albanian Prime Minister speaks like Milošević ON PAGE 3

Flight attendants recognize the Albanian puppet ON PAGE 2

Alimuçaj calls for an investigation into those in power ON PAGE 5

The persecution of the opposition continues. Nano’s police state does not recognize legislators’ mandates. Ylli Vejsiu and Xhevdet Mehmeti are forcibly taken to Police Station No. 2. Tirana of the masks Tirana can today be considered, without the slightest hesitation, the capital of masks. President Meidani, Prime Minister Nano and the other government officials, who have taken it upon themselves to restore law and order, have their seats in Tirana. But, paradoxically, over just the past three days the common criminals wearing masks have carried out their criminal activity, particularly in the neighborhoods leading to the Presidency and the Prime Minister’s Office. The capital’s crime report this week has counted dozens of people killed and wounded. Insecurity has now descended on central Tirana. Unidentified people, cloaked in the “immunity” of masks, are no longer afraid of the defenders of public order, who wear the immunity of the law. Indeed, the latter are on the list of people being threatened. The promised disappearance of gangs and elimination of the masked criminals. Moreover, senior Albanian state officials had proudly and pompously announced deadlines. The only ones who kept their “promises” were the masked criminals, and this truth, however bitter it may sound, must be accepted. They began their activity at first on northern routes, on the outskirts of cities and on buses transporting refugees. Today they have become the masters of the capital, and no one knows what will happen next. What once the devil...? further on. What is known, indeed with certainty, is the ineptitude of the heads of public order and of those who brought them to power. Today everyone has the right to speak not of ordinary masked robbers but of masked political robbers. This is because it was the current leaders in power who revived the masked criminals and, worse still—and perhaps the most irreparable damage—created the conditions for organized crime to emerge. How could it be otherwise when nepotism and political activism have been the basic criteria for appointments in police directorates, police stations, customs posts and everywhere that the word “work” could be replaced by “corruption” and “illegal profits.” The conclusion is shocking: three days ago, a person was killed in the Leaders’ Bloc; three others were wounded yesterday in Rinia Park, while last night a 20-year-old girl, near the former Partizani cinema, was hit by a bullet fired by a masked robber. These things happened in the heart of the capital, before night had even fallen. None of those who have taken responsibility for the safety of citizens’ lives is answerable today; and most tragically, they have found fault-finding a weapon with which to defend their incompetence or inertia. An Italian alfarist is killed and they say these are things that happen; Albanian citizens are killed and announcements are issued saying that work is under way to capture the criminals. And the farce does not end there. Those in power today continue to make detailed assessments of the situation and of the surveillance operations they have carried out against crime. Capital residents find a little peace only after locking themselves inside their homes. With its gunfire, dead and wounded, and robberies, today’s Tirana cannot even be compared with Baghdad. We are in the eighth month of the rule of the Socialists and the coalition—by no means the party. The weapons stolen during the rebellion should have been collected, while the masked criminals should have been remembered as in the past, in the old notebooks, if only the promises made after March had been fulfilled… Common criminals continue; they terrorize and threaten; the masks occupy every inch, engage in demagoguery and travel abroad. Ordinary people, unprotected and tirelessly, seek safety for their lives. Perhaps that is asking too little. All those masks in power. Perhaps they think it is better to asphalt the entire road, which could also serve the royal antiquities against incompetence. People live under the rule of the masks, and in front of their residences one can cry without being noticed, as in … [illegible] women’s quarters. Altin NDROQI Tirana with the hunger strikers Yesterday in “Skënderbej” Square Photo: Albes FUSHA

Representatives of all German political groups have expressed their concern over the communist government’s violation of the rules of the game Pollo and Bushati: German criticism of the government and Gjinushi ON PAGE 3

Telemazi continues to manipulate and falsify the opposition’s activities. Yesterday, once again, the opposition rally in support of the hunger strikers was distorted. The footage broadcast, consisting of old and unsuccessful PS rallies taken from the archive and edited into the opening of the broadcast yesterday as well, has become commonplace in TV studios. Whenever the opposition organizes protest rallies, the television either does not broadcast them at all or censors and falsifies them with crude editing. Fortunately, Albanian citizens also have other private television outlets, which report on the opposition’s activities as they happen, without manipulation or falsification. Above all, so few people watch TVSH’s news that it has become an object of pity.

It is unacceptable that, in a televised debate, today’s government officials bring their hooliganism instead of arguments and alternatives 200 days of leftist rule, an elegy to complete failure ON PAGE 3

The Socialists return to centralizing the economy ON PAGE 6

Sources among the Christian Democrats say that such a scenario is the work of former State Security agents turned SHIK operatives The shameful state plot against the PDK and its chairman, Zef Bushati, fails. In this government, even the parties are not safe ON PAGE 3

I hope they won’t be heard separately. Since they go off to other birds’ nests just to warm them, they preach that this people must be “rebuilt” Interview with the writer Teodor Laço, MP and chairman of the PBSD ON PAGE 7

They are seeking to burn Perikli Teta, Preç Zogaj and Daut Gumeni The covert purge within the coalition begins Prime Minister Nano is dangerously putting the files into motion, this time to strike at those deemed undesirable within the governing coalition. Nafiz Bezhani, chairman of the Commission for the Verification of Figures, has been ordered to disclose the files of Perikli Teta, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defense, and of the Presidency’s advisers, Daut Gumeni and Preç Zogaj. Sources from the “verification” commission say that these days it has begun examining the files of three well-known politicians, who appear to have entered Nano’s blacklist. All three have had problems; indeed, Zogaj has publicly testified to his collaboration with the State Security. They managed to escape the stigma only during the last election campaign, when the bar for the files’ roadblock was raised very high because of the tense political situation and the chaos that engulfed the country. Taking advantage of Bezhani’s dubious position, because of the latter’s past, Nano is using him to unleash attacks on people he considers outside his clan. Meanwhile, by using the chairman of the Commission for the Verification of Figures, Nano has decided to throw the stone and hide his hand, presenting this as one of Bezhani’s independent initiatives. According to the deal with Bezhani, the latter will declare that there are still people in government with criminal records who, given their connections, should not be working in the state’s senior structures, disregarding the fact that those mentioned above received pardons from the court during a turbulent period. Nano’s game against two of the PAD’s best-known figures is the beginning of his challenge to bring about changes in the government cabinet. By targeting Zogaj and Ceka, he is in a way also taking revenge for Ceka’s arrogant statements, in which he said that ministers are not Nano’s employees. Meanwhile, he is removing two of the most unwelcome people from the administration, while poor Daut Gumeni will take the fall for nothing, being used as a guarantor so that Zogaj and Teta are not left alone. L.M.

Yesterday in “Skënderbej” Square Photo: Albes FUSHA Yesterday in “Skënderbej” Square — Photo: Albes FUSHA

Breaking news Ordinary people on the budget To see the enthusiastic effect that the approval of the Nano government’s budget had in parliament, Albanian television interviewed people of different ages and professions. A man: “I felt the effect in my money: the very next day after Berisha arrived, they added 300 grams of milk.” A mother who gave birth to twins at the maternity hospital: “I thanked the Nano government for giving me the opportunity to give birth to two healthy children. I will repay this government with more children.” A teacher: Asked what he thought of the budget, he replied. Long live Gaqo Apostoli!