Today, everyone in “Skënderbej” Square Today, on 4 March 1998 at 16:30 in “Skënderbej” Square, the Bashkimi për Demokraci formation, together with the associations and trade unions that support this political grouping, will organize a peaceful rally to protest: Against the restoration of the class state Against political imprisonment Against the government’s deception over returning the money deposited in pyramid schemes Against the absolute poverty being brought about by coalition rule Against the authorities’ deception over the indexing of wages and pensions Everyone to the square in defense of democracy and against the restoration of communism. The event is being held with police permission. BASHKIMI PËR DEMOKRACI

Bulevard Vans and Kalashnikovs against the press The state arrests the newspaper “Bulevard” ON PAGE 4

The DP brings together 17 parties and 7 associations at a roundtable on Kosovo. Only Nano’s government is absent Kosovo mourns the victims of Serbian terror. Funeral ceremonies for the murdered Albanians are held in Drenica and Prishtina. The gruesome massacre in Likoshan is confirmed, with 12 dead. The international community condemns Millosheviç and calls for a solution

The strikers insist: Deloitte & Touche out The 50 creditors enduring the eighth day of the hunger strike say they will sacrifice their lives to possess their property Fifty creditors of VEFA Holding joined the forty-five hunger strikers from the company. According to statements made to the press by Gëzim Hoxha, the hunger strike leader, the petition deadline expires on 3 March; these creditors sent the petition to the government. … [?] … of Cameron-Ellis and once again demanded the immediate departure of the firm Deloitte & Touche from the premises of the “VEFA” company. According to the strikers, the only owners of the “VEFA” company are the creditors, and no one else can become an owner, responsible party, or administrator, whether appointed by the government or otherwise.... ON PAGE 5

The peaceful policy pursued in Kosovo for twenty years came to a halt three days ago. It was struck precisely by those who had most enjoyed the fruits of this policy: Millosheviqi and the other nationalist groupings in Belgrade. For the first time since taking the helm of the Republic of Kosovo, Rugova found himself outside his political parameters. This time, the President of Kosovo was several steps behind the human demands voiced in the streets of Prishtina on Monday. Each protester was calling for different ways forward from those Rugova had advocated for seven years. Such a break with the Rugovian political education of Kosovo’s Albanians did not occur because of the latter, nor because of the so-called KLA groups, but precisely because of the most extreme repression by the Serbian state’s nationalist military structures. It seems that all the structures of the parallel state in Kosovo were unprepared for such a situation, to the point that people are more likely to remember the protest of 300,000 Albanians in Prishtina than a decision by the President of Kosovo or its exiled prime minister. A state that has functioned for seven consecutive years, regardless of the choice around which it was structured, should have paid closer attention to escalating situations, knowing that it was always facing the totalitarian and militarized Serbian state. If people in Drenica were killed and slaughtered within a short period of time, just as many died because of the inertia that had spread among them. You cannot, under any circumstances, play the role of someone in the right when facing Serbian bandits; a person who is on the side of justice. They have shown that they do not recognize such legality. In facing them, you must stand not only on the side of justice but also be capable of defending that justice which belongs to you. A peaceful policy does not prevent you from being prepared for unpeaceful moments, and such moments have been so frequent in Kosovo that it is hard to imagine there was any great reason to preserve to the point of fanaticism the idea of achieving Kosovo’s independence through peace, as Rugova and Albanian politics as a whole demand. The resistance of Kosovo Albanians in the face of an exhausted Serbian policy has not been particularly difficult for them. The Serbs are greatly worn down by their barbarity, but when these barbarities are visited upon people, all political resistance can amount to no more than a decoration on one level; on another, among sections that are not politicized, distrust of politics arises and eyes turn toward weapons and harsh retaliation. This is precisely the moment that has appeared in Kosovo. For many people, that moderate policy cannot protect them from barbarity, and the political conclusions built upon it are not so solid either. If this distrust of politics becomes epidemic among Kosovo Albanians, the tragedy will be much greater than what happened three days ago. Successful peaceful resistance would devalue war, while war after a long peaceful resistance would devalue the latter. These days, the politics of Kosovo, Albania, Europe, and the USA stand before a trial that will no longer be played out through the cries heard in Drenica, but through such dramatic events throughout Kosovo and beyond, if a solution is not found swiftly for the Albanians and for the process of resolving the Kosovo issue. Three days ago, the consequences of the Serbian regime were suffered by ordinary people, representatives of the large part that seeks an outcome in its favor. In such cases, the majority is responsible for its methods, and Bosnia, Croatia, and the Serbs themselves already know them well.

The government seeks to isolate the opposition By order of the government and Fatos Nano, all telephone lines at the Democratic Party’s central headquarters were cut off immediately yesterday. The order cut the phone lines of the Chairman of the Democratic Party, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha; the DP deputy chairman and head of the Parliamentary Group, Genc Pollo; Secretary General Ridvan Bode; and the telephone lines of the press and information office, the foreign relations office, and the administrative office. At the central headquarters, only the phone line of the office of the Department of Defense and Public Security, where MP Azem Hajdari is based, has not been cut. His vehicle has been taken away, and he is under continuous surveillance by SHIK. The immediate disconnection of the phone lines, which follows the state television news bulletin, aims to sever the Democratic Party’s links with its branches and the international community. It is a brutal act that demonstrates the government’s and its prime minister’s aims and absurd notions.

Government officials provoke a brawl in Prison 313 to eliminate Zani A prisoner from Shkodra badly beat the man accused of dozens of crimes, who was subsequently transferred to Durrës prison . ON PAGE 6

The prominent Albanian writer calls for the international community to be made more aware of Kosovo’s tragedy The prominent Albanian writer, Ismail Kadare, said yesterday that the people of Kosovo were living under a hostile, colonial regime, and called on Europe to shake off its lethargy and confront Serbian aggression. “What is happening in Kosovo is tragic,” Kadare, Albania’s best-known writer, said in an interview with the British news agency Reuters. “The most urgent thing to do is to break away from and stop Serbian barbarity,” said the writer, whose novel “Chronicle in Stone” describes the bloody suppression of the 1981 revolts in Kosovo’s capital, Prishtina. “Two million hostages are living in an enemy—Serbian—country. The Kosovars are the only people in Europe living under archaic colonial conditions. Police repression is unprecedented,” he said. Kadare, who lives in Paris and has often been proposed as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, said that ethnic Albanians in Kosovo had been drawn into a “desperate resistance.” He said that Belgrade was accusing them of terrorism in order to secure international support. “Albanians have waited for years for Europe to do something for them, but they have never been rewarded. Their anger is understandable. The peaceful and patient policy has failed,” Kadare said. “Europe’s passive acceptance of Serbian policy in Kosovo must come to an end. Allowing this to continue will be a disgrace and a disappointment for all of Europe,” he noted. Some Western governments, fearing another outbreak that could threaten peace in the Balkans, have held the Serbian government responsible for the latest incidents. They hinted that sanctions against Yugoslavia could be strengthened as long as President Millosheviq sticks to his policy and refuses to negotiate with Kosovo’s Albanian leaders, who are seeking autonomy for the province.

Fier’s councillors condemn police violence against Mayor Lekdushi ON PAGE 4

Jurist and politician Spartak Ngjela comments on the law “On the Use of Weapons” ON PAGE 6

Why, the tale of the political rifle for Kosovo