Teachers return to the strike after their dispute with the government ON PAGE 5

The prosecution witness is threatened with death ON PAGE 4

Shuli, Bufi and Angjeli are once again serving up lies to the strikers ON PAGE 5

The Prime Minister had coffee with “Tozo” in Vlora during his visit to the island of Sazan. Italy calls for a multinational force to stop the Mafia’s hand in Albania Clans of death-dealing speedboat smugglers in the Albanian parliament. Among those most accused of links to mafiosi are Skënder Gjinushi and Sabit Brokaj ON PAGE 2

The government adopts Çaushesku’s methods. Tirana will face the biggest problems with electricity The country in total crisis. KESH warns of prolonged power cuts ON PAGE 5

By Sami NEZA Former Prime Minister Fatos Nano is trying to bring back March ’97 once again in all the districts of the south of the country, where just two years ago he mobilized the great rebellion, which has so far resulted in at least more than 3,000 victims. When the socialist leader resigned from the post of chairman of his party, many people may have thought he was stepping down to atone for the sins he committed while governing and to make way for the cleansing of the PS of its mafia-family clans, its modernization, and the emergence of political responsibility within the party. His highly critical remarks about the PS were not part of Nano’s everyday jargon, whether governmental or social, ever since he took over as party leader in ’91. If some of public opinion thought that Nano had understood his inability to govern not only the state but also the party, very few believed that he had stepped aside in order to make another ascent to the party leadership, just like in the spring of 1997, when he came to head the Albanian state at gunpoint and with the clubs of bandits and mafiosi. He did not take long to reveal the purpose behind his departure from the party leadership. Over the last four days, some of the districts around the area that had been the greatest victims of the previous rebellion experienced great and dangerous tension. In Vlora, the speedboat smugglers took the police commissioner hostage, forced him to release the speedboats, and, moreover, warned him not to repeat what they called a major mistake. It was the same three hundred people who blocked Vlora’s roads, who had declared Nano during his actions in the south; it was the same hand that bloodied Albania in March ’97 and held all Vlora’s residents hostage for almost a year, only so Nano could win and speedboat smuggling could start up again. This was a clear case of the Mafia prevailing over the state. A clear victory that can also be identified as Fatos Nano’s victory over the Majko government, and as proof of their inability to govern if Fatos Nano unleashes his thugs on the state, already weak and exhausted as it is. The incident in Vlora once again shook Europeans over the need for an international force in Albania. The Italian Minister of Defence has called for the return of Alba’s counterparts to protect his country from clandestine trafficking and the Albanian Mafia, deeply connected with the political establishment in power. In Gjirokastër, a gang of thugs from the “Punëtore” neighborhood blocked the national road on the outskirts of the city, firing all night with weapons of every caliber. This happened on the eve of the Prime Minister’s visit to the city and to the village of Lazarat, a few kilometers away. The cause was an attack by unknown people, who have a habit of robbing, killing or wounding people near Lazarat, simply to incriminate this village by any means. Gjirokastër, which had been peaceful for some time, found itself back in the month of the ’97 rebellion, as it followed in the footsteps of the past, when those seeking to destroy this city were precisely the people who today are MPs, prefects, and their relatives. The Albanian left, under Nano’s influence, has warned of shutdowns and unrest in many parts of the country under the pretext of Nano’s return to the helm of the PS. A small demonstration took place in the city of Berat, while a private TV station showed people at the socialist headquarters in Tirana calling for the PS to be removed and Nano to return. There had been a reaction against the neighborhoods and interviewees, whose geography was much broader than that of Nano’s two governments themselves. But this was the opposite of directing the unrest to the places where Fatos’s gangs are active. For three days Albania was put to the test by the Mafia, and the Nano state built on speedboats began to stir, driven by instinct. He is capable of mobilizing the entire apparatus he activated in March ’97, leaving behind the taste of a summer soaked in blood. He stepped aside to silence the deception, to attack the roads and cities, and to promote once again his power, which comes from the empire of speedboats and the mafia networks that grew and took shape while Fatos Nano was Prime Minister.

Alba troops in Vlora during the unrest of ’97

The proposal to establish an independent investigative commission to shed light on the murder of Azem Hajdari has arrived at the prime minister’s office The draft has been drawn up by the best experts in criminal and constitutional law, taking into account precedents and international standards for independent investigations ON PAGE 3

PD: Alliance for the State, an alliance of state mafia clans Beja declared PD’s readiness to contribute to bringing Albania out of the crisis and called for a political solution to this deep crisis through early elections ON PAGE 3

Yesterday, the chairman of PD, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha, received Mr. Veton Surroi, politician and analyst, member of the negotiating group on the Kosovo issue and director of the newspaper “Koha Ditore,” with whom he held a discussion about the latest developments concerning the Kosovo issue. Both interlocutors stressed the necessity of cooperation among political and military actors in Kosovo, the coordination of their positions and efforts, and their representation with a single voice in resolving the Kosovo issue. Albanian actors must play the role that falls to them in resolving the Albanian issue, recognizing this solution as an ongoing process that passes through various stages.

Berisha and Bukoshi appeal to the international community The chairman of the Democratic Party, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha, met and held an extended discussion yesterday with the chairman of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Bujar Bukoshi. The latest developments in Kosovo following the Reçak massacre, the escalation of violence by political forces in Kosovo, and the statement by Albanian political forces in Albania were the subjects of this discussion. The interlocutors expressed the need to coordinate the positions of political and military actors in Kosovo, and of all political actors in Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia and the diaspora, in order to resolve the Kosovo issue. Berisha and Bukoshi consider the recent meetings between Albanian political forces important. They called on the international community and NATO to intervene in Kosovo to put an end to the human catastrophe, genocide and massacre of Albanians in the Republic of Kosovo.

Today, 136 days since the murder of the December leader Every day that passes since the murder of Azem Hajdari, the symbol of democracy and pluralism, proves the involvement of Fatos Nano’s government and its successor in causing the shock felt throughout the Albanian world. The government of the former communists, which leaves free and untried the criminals who took the life of the December leader, shows Albanians that they have been and remain on the side of the killers, who have names but are untouched by those in power. Democracy and all the Albanians who loved and honored Azem Hajdari can in no way tolerate this fact. The government must either capture the criminals and bring them to justice, or publicly declare that it itself carried out the murder of Azem Hajdari.

The new President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is elected Lord Rusell Johnston was elected yesterday in Strasbourg. Johnston, 67, the Assembly’s first Scottish president, won by 209 votes to 31 against Italian MEP Flavio Roderighero in a vote held yesterday afternoon in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. A member of this Assembly since 1984, Johnston takes the place of Leni Fisher, who was president of the Assembly for the past three years. Immediately after his election, Johnston declared before the Assembly that his priorities as president would be the development of mediation and direct on-the-ground intervention in the event of conflict or violations of human rights, the principles of pluralist democracy and the rule of law. Johnston graduated in history and led the Scottish Liberal Democrats until 1994. Since that year he has chaired the Democratic and Reformers Group.

draft law international standards for independent investigations ON PAGE 3 PD Deputy Chairman Pollo is sought out at the Istanbul meeting for two important EDU statements on Albania and Kosovo The government must stop the violence against the opposition ON PAGE 3