Patos: Oil continues to be blockaded ON PAGE 5

On Friday, a large rally in central Tirana On 12 February 1999, a grand rally will be held in “Skënderbej” Square to protest against the government, which continues to conceal the killers of Azem Hajdari, the hero of democracy and tribune of Albanian nationalism. On 12 February 1998, five months will have passed since the day the ruling clique killed the hero of December ’90, the hero of Albanian pluralism, Azem Hajdari. Everyone in the square to defend pluralism, everyone in the square to restore democracy to Albania, everyone in the square against the government that protects Azem’s killers, against the government of misery. Brothers and sisters, on 12.2.1999, at 12:00, let us all gather together in “Skënderbej” Square.

Residents of the area interrupt SHIK’s surveillance of the opposition leader SHIK agents Vasil Riza and Ilia Palloi got out of a brown AUDI car with license plate TR 8234 A and provoked the National Guard noncommissioned officers on duty near the apartment building of the DP chairman ON PAGE 3

By Astrit PATOZI Prime Minister Majko has publicly acknowledged his government’s inability to restore order in Albania, while astonishing everyone at the State Department when he threatened American aid in order to save the left-wing coalition in power from mounting international pressure. But, in terms of childlike candor for a statesman, Majko’s complaint to the Ombudsman about the accusations and attacks coming from official Rome against his cabinet over the trafficking of undocumented migrants dashes all Albanians’ hopes of bringing down the country’s crime rate. At a time when the police feel completely paralyzed in the face of organized crime, and the repercussions of the Vlorë incident have not yet died down, when a gang of speedboat smugglers took the city’s police commissioner hostage, the prime minister finds an opportunity to justify his administration with the ridiculous argument that Italy is also responsible for failing to combat the Albanian mafia. More than the diplomatic problem it has caused, Majko’s statement in Washington should be considered in light of the bleak prospect it foreshadows. In a way, the Albanian prime minister has agreed to play the role of Gjinushi, the official protector of the speedboat smugglers, while speaking with the head of the world’s foremost diplomatic service. Meanwhile, the speaker of parliament, one of the politicians most often alleged to have links with the mafia involved in drug and migrant trafficking, has openly declared his support for the Vlorë traffickers. Majko has cheered them on indirectly by trying to shift responsibility for his government’s failures across the Adriatic. It is truly shocking that the Albanian prime minister would choose this as the worst possible time to joke about the sharpest and most important problem facing Albania. His quip that “the speedboats set off from the electoral constituency of the Albanian parliamentary speaker and end up in the electoral constituency of the Italian prime minister” is utterly inconceivable humor—not only a serious diplomatic gaffe, but, more importantly, a message that the Tirana government will do nothing to stop the speedboat smugglers and the criminal underworld in general. Comparing the Italian prime minister to Shkëlzen Gjinushi, one of the politicians most accused of links to the mafia, is meanwhile an insult to Italy itself, a state that ranks among the foremost countries on the list of [text unclear]. If Italy may have the advantage of easily addressing the problems operating within its own territory, that does not at all mean it bears the same responsibility as the Albanian government for the extraordinary human-trafficking operation originating on the shores opposite it. When the highest levels of power are linked to the criminal underworld, and speedboat smugglers communicate by mobile phone with MPs, ministers, or other senior officials in Majko’s government, Italy cannot act as executioner of Albanian gangsters sponsored by their own state. By increasing pressure on Tirana, official Rome has made the most reasonable move to minimize criminal activity that begins on Albania’s shores and unloads on the shores of Puglia. Meanwhile, the pressure from Italy on the shores of the governing coalition is testing not only allegations of links between Albanian officials and mafia clans, but also their strange appetite for more than merely a threat from anyone over this criminal activity. Majko can in no way seek Italy’s support—much less its toughness—in striking Albanian migrant trafficking, whose boats cross the Strait of Otranto every night, so long as mobsters have their people in the government and parliament. He has no moral right to accuse the neighboring state so long as the police, the institutions, and he himself remain hostages of the speedboat smugglers or other mafiosi in Albania. Now that D’Alema’s government has announced the legalization of a further 50,000 or so Albanians, Majko and his government’s position in this extraordinary conflict is further compromised. By approving the issuance of documents to Albanian immigrants, D’Alema and his government demonstrate that they are on the side of the victims who risk their lives on their hellish journeys across the Strait of Otranto. Meanwhile, Majko, through his ridiculous meeting, in one way or another resembles and accuses the speedboat smugglers, the only ones interested in keeping the status quo of failing to combat migrant trafficking. This extraordinary contrast is also the crux of the Albanian prime minister’s attempt, while in government, to sidestep the serious problem of migrant trafficking and crime in general, which stands directly before him, rather than merely being an issue in Albania’s relations with Italy. Meanwhile, the unexpected warning that the government is unable—or unwilling—to strike at crime once again underscores the need for the opposition to sign the pact to restore temporary order, the only alternative for saving the state and citizens from the clutches of the mafia.

At Rambouillet, hopes are revived for military guarantees in the agreement ON PAGE 3 From Rambouillet Mero BAZE REUTERS

State Audit: Taxes are a source of profit for finance experts The chairman of KLSH, Mustafa Kërçuku, will appear before MPs in parliament and report on the existence of corruption in state institutions The High State Audit accuses experts at the Ministry of Finance of corruption. According to official sources from the High State Audit, the head of this institution has accused KLSH chairman Kërçuku, experts at the Ministry of Finance do not collect taxes regularly. Sources said that KLSH chairman Kërçuku himself is expected to appear before parliament very soon... ON PAGE 5

The state’s wiretapping of Berisha warns of the country’s destabilization The Democratic Party calls on Prime Minister Majko to publicly denounce this act and take measures to end the surveillance of the opposition leader ON PAGE 3

Chief Prosecutor Rakipi yesterday acknowledged the responsibility of the Political Prosecutor’s Office for the Tirana Court’s decision to wiretap the phones of Democratic Party chairman Sali Berisha. Yesterday, on state media, he acknowledged that the court’s decision to place the opposition leader’s communications under SHIK surveillance had been made at the initiative of the office he heads. Once again, Rakipi’s Political Prosecutor’s Office demonstrates its blind willingness to serve the far-left clans interested in destabilizing Albania. Rakipi spoke to the media yesterday, making a statement on behalf of his office regarding this scandal, which brings the Political Prosecutor’s Office back under accusation.

The petition by the PD Parliamentary Group calling for the release of political prisoners seeks the attention of the international community . “These are very strange processes, incomprehensible to the international community.” ON PAGE 4

Today, 152 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 his successor in the crime that shook the entire Albanian world. The governments of the former communists, which leave free and untroubled the criminals who took the December Leader’s life, show Albanians that they have been and remain on the side of the killers, who have names but are not touched by those in power. Democrats and all Albanians who loved and honored Azem Hajdari can in no way tolerate this fact. The government must either apprehend the criminals and bring them to justice, or publicly declare that it itself committed the murder of Azem Hajdari.

Former Albanian president Berisha pays his final respects to Tatarella The president of the Democratic Party, Mr. Sali Berisha, said in his speech: “Italy’s mourning is also mourning for Albania, because Tatarella was a friend of my country and worked to solve Albania’s problems.” It was the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Luciano Violante, who gave a short speech and, in concise terms, paid Giuseppe Tatarella his final respects in the packed chamber of the Bari City Council hall. Also with Violante were Senate President Nicola Mancino, Vice President Domenico Fisichella, and representatives from all parliamentary groups. Before the coffin, covered with red roses and a ribbon bearing the words Alleanza Nazionale, Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the Polo, also paid tribute to the former first vice president during the center-right government. To allow the people gathered in Prefettura Square to take part in the ceremony, the coffin containing Tatarella’s body was brought outside the municipal building, where memorial speeches were given by the mayor of Bari, Simeone di Cagno Ab- Berisha, on Tuesday, at Tatarella’s funeral brescia, and the president of the Alleanza Nazionale party, Gianfranco Fini. The leader of the Albanian Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, also attended the ceremony and said in his speech: “Italy’s mourning is also mourning for Albania, because Tatarella was a friend of my country and worked to solve Albania’s problems.” Prepared by: R.HAFIZI

Saranda police detain one of the most active PD activists in the municipality of Ksamil His detention was made without any reason, solely on the basis of reports by some people who consider themselves PS activists His detention was made without any reason, solely on the basis of reports by people who consider themselves PS activists. On Tuesday, Saranda police detained Hysen Caci, one of the most active Democratic Party activists in the municipality of Ksamil and one of the heads of the PD sections. basis of reports by some people who consider themselves PS activists and people. ON PAGE 4