Zani’s government friends guaranteed him passage across the sea ON PAGE 4

Special prosecutors are not giving up on political imprisonments ON PAGE 4

The Conference of Judges refuses to accept political diktats ON PAGE 4

The Albanian people are prepared to defend their homeland Milošević represents not Saddam, but the Satan of the Balkans. The previous positions of the left-coalition governments served Belgrade ON PAGE 3

100 days of insecurity and public-order chaos under the latest left-coalition government The total absence of public order and the growing social insecurity are the most powerful evidence of the failure of the left coalition’s violent attempt to seize power. Now, after around 18 months, this coalition’s promises at the beginning of its government to restore order within 100 days appear to have been drafted [as a mere promise]. Albanians have no choice but to count the successive governments of the left coalition and their 100-day periods, while hoping that order and security will return to life. This coalition’s failure on this problem, a priority for the country, is linked to many reasons. The lack of a clear, consensual platform for disarming the population; the use of the police as an instrument of political repression against the DP and the opposition as a whole; the infiltration into law-enforcement structures of extreme-left militants, former State Security officers, criminals and people who had contributed to the destruction of the state by leaving or discouraging... ON PAGE 2

By Astrit PATOZI The statements by the Yugoslav foreign minister in Madrid, which warned of a possible Serbian attack on Albania, reminded us all that the seemingly quixotic campaign waged by SHIK and some Tirana newspapers against mujahedin and made-up Islamic terrorists has served to grease the wheels of Milošević’s military machine against all Albanians. Although no serious institution in the West could take Jovanović’s “argument” seriously, the latter is at least formally justified in his accusations, since they converge with opinions officially voiced by Tirana’s government officials and by the Albanian press close to SHIK. The Yugoslav foreign minister showed no great courage when he branded Albania a hotbed of Islamic terrorism, since Albania’s secret service has been doing so permanently for a long time, supplying some of the Tirana press with raw material. For almost two years, some Albanian newspapers, led by “Shekulli”, have fed the public fabricated stories every day to create the impression that Islamic terrorism has deep roots in Albania and that one of its strongest bases is in this country: the American superpower’s Osama Bin Laden. The piloting of Serbian theses in the Albanian press For more than a year and a half, newspapers that have used direct sources from SHIK have been answerable to no one but Fatos Klosi and his people; the evidence makes it difficult to deny that the deliberate piloting of its narratives—which portray Albania as a center of Islamic terrorism—has been carried out by the Albanian secret service. A few days ago, “Gazeta Shqiptare” even dared to write, apparently having been given information in advance, by reporting at 11:00 on Friday an event that would occur only an hour later, at noon. The newspaper thus announced a day before the operation the arrest of a young man, Çekiçi, who was suspected of tearing down a flag at the American embassy in Tirana, and portrayed him as one of the Islamic fanatics. The next day, when the whole story was trumpeted with all its details as an extraordinary success, and the “head of the terrorist organization” was released for lack of evidence, it was also proven that the operation had been carried out entirely by SHIK personnel and not by the police. The story was unsuccessful from the start, only because the attacks were not carried out in an Arab country; meanwhile, an Albanian of this type is supplied with the appropriate material for the press by a SHIK newspaper, which makes the newspaper responsible, but also those behind it, when the operations may still exist only on paper. But the height of hypocrisy and professional immorality may have been reached when the newspaper that had carried the banner of Islam as the bogeyman of Islamic terrorism in Albania accused the press of causing great harm to the country with a false, unfounded or manipulated story. In its editorial yesterday, the newspaper “Shekulli”, close to President Meidani, described the news that had created fear of “Albania as a state of Islamic terrorism” as inspired by the anti-Islamic press. The tradition of the Islamic bogeyman in Albania In fact, the story of slandering Islam as a dangerous fanaticism for Albania did not begin in the last two years, nor did it begin only when Kosovo became engulfed in an open war. It dates back to the very first steps of the Democratic Party government, with uninterrupted attacks on Albania’s entry into the Islamic Conference, a normal political act by the Albanian government at the time. The opposition of that time exploited it to create false associations, as if the country’s aim were to orient itself toward the East instead of the West and Europe. (Continued on page 3)

Yesterday morning at schools in Tirana Photo: Albes FUSHA

Pollo: When he returns from Italy, Majko will find the draft law on his desk Opposition to this draft law will reveal which government officials or former government officials in the PS have clean hands and who is implicated in the murder of Azem Hajdari. Some of those who oppose dialogue may see their name in the file ON PAGE 3

The Albanian Pan-European Movement celebrates its membership in the International Pan-European Union ON PAGE 2

Killed, imprisoned and abused by sections of the state because they are DP leaders, members and activists ON PAGE 7

The government protects Azem Hajdari’s murderers Every day that passes since the murder of Azem Hajdari, the symbol of democracy and pluralism, delays the fulfillment of the duty of Fatos Nano’s government and his successor regarding the crime that shook all Albanians. The government of the former left coalition has left criminals free and untried, installed in government. The December Leader has shown Albanians that they have been and remain on the side of the murderers, who have names, but are not touched by those in power. Democrats and all Albanians who loved and honored Azem Hajdari can never tolerate this fact. The government must either capture the criminals and bring them to justice, or publicly declare that it itself committed the murder of Azem Hajdari.

Yesterday at midday, DP Chairman Berisha received the European Union Ambassador to Albania, Elio Germano, for a brief visit at the central headquarters of the Democratic Party of Albania. Ambassador Germano expressed his satisfaction with the fruitful cooperation of more than five years that he had had with President Berisha. Berisha thanked Ambassador Germano and the European Community for their contribution to Albania in the first days of the transition and thereafter, in support of consolidating democracy and the market economy in Albania and the process of European integration. Mr. Berisha and Germano then exchanged views on the crisis in Albania and problems in the region. Ambassador Germano, thanking Mr. Berisha once again for the cooperation and understanding, expressed his wishes for the consolidation of democracy and the development and progress of the country.

Strikes across the country are hitting the government. Hope for a solution remains zero - Fushë-Krujë: Strikers demand the government come to the factory - Ballsh: 15,000 oil workers still have no answer - Tirana: Woodworkers on strike refuse to back down - Memaliaj, Bulqizë, Burrel: Miners and metalworkers on strike again - Berat: Textile workers will go on strike ON PAGE 5

DP condemns the Yugoslav foreign minister’s statement in Madrid The Democratic Party condemns the Yugoslav foreign minister’s statement in Madrid as an irresponsible threat and further evidence of Milošević’s determination to continue a policy of war and aggression, driven by Serbian ultranationalism against the peoples of the Balkans. The Butcher of the Balkans, after attacking Slovenia and Croatia and causing the greatest postwar tragedy in Bosnia, and after launching aggression and barbarities against Kosovo, now thinks he can go further by creating a new conflict against Albanians in Albania. The Democratic Party once again condemns this threat and warns that any adventure against Albania will be met with an appropriate response from the Albanians and will receive the punishment it deserves. The Democratic Party declares that religiously motivated terrorism has never existed in Albania and does not exist there today. In the Balkans, Serbian state terrorism is the main factor behind wars and instability, while its collaborators in Tirana, organizers of political murders, who portray Albania as a hotbed of Islamic terrorism and Milošević as the lesser evil, have pursued and promoted the aim of preparing the ground for the adventure represented by the Serbian threat. Belgrade has been able to survive only through the use of violence. The Democratic Party declares that Albanians do not want war, but know how to defend their country and their freedom. It calls on the USA, the North Atlantic Alliance and the countries of the European Union to take concrete action to prevent the Serbian adventure in the southern Balkans and to impose on Belgrade the punishment it deserves.