Former President Berisha welcomes Clinton’s role in defending the Albanian nation ON PAGE 3

Italy and Germany are encountering problems with aid in Albania ON PAGE 3

The government must intervene immediately to avert another tragedy ON PAGE 7

Kukësi is being swamped by the influx of displaced people. The opposition is calling for an emergency corridor for aid and a change to the distribution system Catastrophe in Albania. More than 200 thousand arrivals from Kosovo. Another 50 thousand are expected today. The looting and stalling of aid begins

By Robin COOK As I write to you, Serbian paramilitary and security forces are carrying out the most brutal campaign of terror against the Albanians of Kosovo. Men are being separated from their wives and children and then executed. Entire villages are being burned. Hundreds of thousands of people are being forced to leave their homes. In the last world war, Europe paid the price of deportation and ethnic hatred. After the war we said, “never again”. But some Serbian tactics still remind us all too much of those dark days. President Millosheviç’s forces are systematically using violence against a group of civilians simply because of their ethnicity. They are making an all-out effort to rid the country of an entire community. President Millosheviç’s actions are a grave abuse of human rights. They are causing human suffering on a colossal scale. And they are an affront to everything on which modern Europe stands. I come from a generation that was horrified by the evil of apartheid in Africa. Its abolition was one of the greatest victories of recent years. We will not tolerate its revival on our doorstep. That is why we are acting in Kosovo, that is why we are doing this. The campaign of repression and violence by Millosheviç is nothing new. It did not begin with NATO’s attacks. In previous years, long before NATO’s first bombs fell, Millosheviç’s forces had displaced nearly 400,000 people from their towns and villages. The latest round of this brutality has increased the number even further. It has become a story of suffering on an unimaginable scale. These grim statistics tell a terrible story. Each case represents a life uprooted, a home lost, a childhood destroyed, a livelihood abandoned. Each case represents a brutal violation of human rights. Each case is a stain on our continent, an echo of the darkest days of our past. Some people say that our action has made things worse. There could be no greater mistake than this claim. We have known for a long time that Milosheviç was planning a spring campaign against the people of Kosovo. That is why we—and our partners in the Contact Group—did everything we could to keep the peace process alive. That is why we repeatedly offered Milosheviç the hand of peace, which he always rejected. It is absolutely clear that he never negotiated in good faith. He has never been interested in peace. While we were holding talks in Rambuje and Paris, he was preparing the new wave of ethnic cleansing. This campaign has now begun, and we are seeing its terrible consequences. Milosheviç’s tactic is very clear—to move the Albanians out of Kosovo as quickly as he can, spreading terror among the civilian population. It is a tactic they used in the war in Bosnia. And it is no coincidence that the same people who committed massacres in that war—such as the notorious Serbian commander “Arkani”—are now in Kosovo doing the same things again. We will not let Milosheviç achieve his goal. We cannot allow this if we are to have any real hope of building a peaceful, tolerant and diverse Europe. That is why we took this decision. And we will not stop until Milosheviç can no longer continue his campaign of repression. Any agreement must ensure that the victims of this tragedy—the Albanians of Kosovo—can return freely to their homes and rebuild their shattered lives. The demand that we should have sought a peaceful solution. If only we could have achieved that! We did everything we could to find that peaceful solution. We explored every possibility for dialogue. We accepted Milosheviç’s promises, and he broke them. He promised to end the repression and reduce the number of troops in Kosovo, but his actions proved these were empty words. Through his actions, Milosheviç left us no other choice. If we had not acted, Milosheviç would have succeeded in driving the Albanians out of Kosovo. We could not pretend and turn a blind eye to his fate, while Milosheviç carried out ethnic cleansing in the heart of Europe. We could not stand aside while he broke his agreements with the international community and continued his relentless campaign against the Albanians in Kosovo. We could not allow a humanitarian catastrophe on our doorstep. We did not want it to come to this. But we had no other alternative. Our inaction would have come at a far higher price—for the Albanians of Kosovo and for all the people of Europe. Through our actions, we are giving them a chance to overcome our continent’s dark past. We are giving them hope; we cannot give up.

Berluskoni postpones his visit. The government is to blame ON PAGE 3

Hafiz Gagica, General Representative of Rugova’s party

While Kosovo is engulfed in flames in all its cities and villages, while around 160,000 citizens of Kosovo displaced by the Serbian terrorist military machine have arrived in Albania, and while another 500,000 have been subjected to Serbian ethnic cleansing and are being driven toward Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia, Turkey, or into ever-smaller areas of Kosovo, the director of the KLA Political Directorate yesterday announced the composition of Kosovo’s new government, which is located neither in Kosovo nor in Kukës, but only in Tirana—sometimes at the “Rogner” and sometimes in the government villas on Mount Dajti. The composition of the government, as announced by state television, which has exclusive access to news from KLA members in Tirana, was conveyed by its leaders to Rexhep Qosja’s party, while the voice itself was left to the LDK. The announcement of Kosovo’s government while the other prime minister has still not resigned, while Kosovo’s President is a hostage in Serbian hands and his fate is still unknown—whether he is alive or not—shows the irresponsibility of the KLA in Tirana in forming a government that is neither coordinated nor in a position to be constituted. The government suggested by official Tirana, contracted by Mejdan(i) and his allies in the bloc—Milo, Klosi, Gjinushi—will find it very difficult to function in a setting where the main party in government has never taken part in elections, has never functioned as a parliamentary party, and has no opinion poll by which to determine how much support it has among the people of Kosovo. Meanwhile, the LDK, Kosovo’s principal party, which won a majority in the previous elections, is now a minority in a government which, both in its composition and in the place where it was proposed and announced, does not reflect the convictions or political reality in Kosovo, nor does it represent Pristina’s actual intellectual capacity. The only resemblance that immediately stands out is its simplicity, like that of Tirana’s former communist government, and its filling with Qosja followers so as to be in step with the government in Tirana. Only three days ago, a statement by several KLA leaders said that in Kosovo only the KLA institution and the government expected to emerge from it were functioning, forgetting and setting aside the institution of the President and every other official in Kosovo for an entire year. The Kosovo Parliament, which was elected by popular vote and succeeded in choosing its leaders, was also ignored. The day after this statement came the Serbian information offensive, which sought to politically undermine Ibrahim Rugova and which, unfortunately, found allies in Tirana among the Albanian government and the government’s inner circle. Thaçi “Prime Minister? The neighborhood doesn’t know, because he is in Washington—not in London, Paris, Bonn, or Brussels.” But this did not stop the KLA spokesperson, speaking from the halls of the “Rogner” in Tirana, from insulting Rugova, who has been in the hands of the Serbian barbarians for several days. He, too, had the opportunity to leave Pristina far more than the spokesperson or those who became ministers after abandoning Kosovo during its most difficult days. It is clear that the entire campaign against President Rugova was intended to clear the way for the formation of a government simply brought into Kosovo, without knowing the people of Kosovo, without intending to build such a government, and with no historical basis for maintaining it in a republic that has never functioned for a single day in any way other than through the greatest oppressors of the people of Kosovo. ON PAGE 2

Belgrade and official Tirana, together against President Rugova As 50 years ago, Tirana’s communists, led by Alia, Nano, ON PAGE 3

The Lake Camp in a food crisis; many families remain outside it without tents or food The municipality is working voluntarily, but many people outside the camp’s boundaries are left without bread. They are not on the camp’s list, so they have nowhere to get food. ON PAGE 5

8 years after the communist massacre ON PAGE 2

Children who arrived from Kosovo at the reception point near Tirana’s Artificial Lake

If you wish to contribute money for the families expelled from Kosovo, you may deposit your amount into account number 34220/00/0376 at “Dardania Bank” in the name of the association: “Children of Kosovo, Childhood Now”.

To help those expelled from Kosovo, the newspaper “Rilindja Demokratike” is making its pages available free of charge for various notices, such as requests and offers for accommodation, messages from people who have arrived from Kosovo for other members of their families, etc. You are welcome to visit the editorial office or contact us by calling the numbers provided: 303 29 and 323 55. THE EDITORIAL OFFICE