The Socialists seek full control of the Supreme Court ON PAGE 4

The Kosovo crisis may serve as a cover for the creation and outbreak of a crisis inside Albania, which could come from the traditional destructive forces in the country, together with influences from eastern politics and neighboring ultranationalist circles in Albania. The first signs, although seemingly muted because of the major problems caused by ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, have appeared in some of the most fundamental actions of Albanian governance and of clans within the country’s left-wing politics. Segments of the government, mainly those within the administration of the President of the Republic, have attacked the opposition in recent days, once again bringing the issue of 14 September and the formation of a political government onto the scene. Two days ago, a political trial was held at the Tirana court, where, among other things, further penalties were sought against at least three prominent journalists from the Albanian opposition. In recent days, the Presidency has called for the removal of the chairman of the Supreme Court, even though he has at least three more years in which to serve his term. A judicial background has been constructed around the chairman of the Supreme Court that creates the possibility of dismissing him through second-tier legal sanctions and at the constitutional level. Some time ago, his powers were reduced to a minimum, and the composition of the Supreme Court was radically changed in favor of people appointed by the President or Albania’s one-party Parliament. This attempt greatly increases the pressure on judicial independence, while seriously risking the occupation of judicial power by those in government. The Prosecutor’s Office is also acting in line with the President of the Republic; it has brought back onto the scene the long lists of political persecuted people because of the protests of 13 and 14 September. It has ordered arrests to resume according to its lists. Near the DP headquarters, an activist of the DP was arrested. The President’s associates also supply propaganda and [?] to all the Marxist factions of the KLA. This has led to confusion over the objectives of Kosovo’s military lines and widened the divisions among political and military forces in Kosovo. One indication of this is that different KLA representatives inside Albania—the people in Tirana and the other one in Kukës—made different statements about the G-8 decisions. People close to the President, or regarded as members of his clan, continue to weaken the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo as much as they can. Parliament Speaker Skënder Gjinushi, after expressing no satisfaction over the G-8 decisions, once again continued to undermine he could. After expressing no satisfaction at Rugova’s release, he called for non-recognition of the institution of the President of Kosovo, saying that he had no mandate to make decisions or represent Kosovo. He has also called for DP deputies to have their parliamentary mandates revoked. Ideological indoctrination has by now become routine on Albanian TV, especially on its satellite news program. From there, efforts are being made to shape an opinion divorced from the political reality in Kosovo and Albania, one that could sustain tensions and incite disputes between the sides. TV is in the hands of Meidani and Gjinushi. Fatos Nano’s “coup for the party” is also part of the next attempt to destabilize Albania. He tried to take over the leadership of the Socialist Party by typically mafia-like methods. His becoming head of the Alliance for the State would greatly complicate the international community’s relations with Albania, while any attempt by him to seize power would provoke mass protests by the opposition, which regards him as its murderer and persecutor. The government has not remained outside the destabilization game either. The Prime Minister has refused to cooperate with the opposition in dealing with the crisis. In the first days of the genocide and mass ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, Majko did not recognize the opposition as a party to the matter, refusing to meet opposition leader Berisha and then drastically reducing the local government’s ability to manage the refugee crisis. He transferred power to the prefectures, which in most cases managed the theft of aid. The government did not accept the formation of a broad-based government, which would have made it possible to use the full capacity of Albanian politics and would have significantly deterred any attempt to destabilize the country. But even after this, the opposition has offered the government its willingness to help several times. This was repeated ten days ago at a press conference, while the response was a rejection of political processes and achievements. The Kosovo crisis has been exploited by segments of the government to strike at the opposition as much as possible; the opposition’s response has been curtailed by the nation’s major problems. This crisis has likewise been exploited by eastern political circles to entrench the idea that Albanians belong to another part of Europe, or, as a news agency put it through the words of a diplomat in Tirana, that geographically Albanians are in Europe, but in mentality they are in the Near East.

The Government of Kosovo denounces the scandal of funds stolen from freedom fighters Mustafa: “We have had problems with Tirana, which has stolen and seized a great deal of the KLA’s money and weapons, as in the most recent case of 280,000 marks taken by some Albanian government officials, and nobody knows where they went. 90,000 marks and a large quantity of weapons suffered the same fate a few days ago.” Berisha: G-8 summit is an important step to be welcomed NATO, the security sphere in Kosovo In an interview given to AFP about the G-8 summit, the chairman of the DP, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha, said: “The G-8 meeting and the docu-

Massacre in Gjirokastër: one dead and two seriously injured ON PAGE 2 21-year-old Shefqet Boci was killed and the Aliko brothers were seriously injured. Political revenge against an anti-communist stronghold village in the South A young man from Lazarat was killed and two others were injured in an ambush in the “Punëtore” neighborhood of Gjirokastër, where armed assailants, emboldened, fired mercilessly at the victims as they were returning to their homes. Shefqet Boci, 21, died at the scene from numerous wounds, while brothers Vladimir Aliko and Nezir Aliko were left seriously injured in the hospital of the city of Gjirokastër, having sustained serious wounds. The incident took place at around 21:30, but everything had been prepared from the early morning hours. According to information from Gjirokastër, residents of the “Punëtore” neighborhood, said to belong to the Roma minority, demonstrated in the city for hours while armed, without the police laying a finger on them. At around 10:00, a delegation of theirs was received for a meeting by Gjirokastër Prefect Sotiraq Mantho, and they emerged more charged up than when they had gone in. They blocked the national highway for several hours, confronting police forces that pretended to want to clear the situation, and left the road in the late afternoon. The killers are thought to have been in a dominant position from which they controlled the road leading from Gjirokastër to Lazarat. The criminals fired long bursts from an automatic weapon at the car in which the young men from Lazarat were traveling, killing one and seriously injuring the other two. The serious incident appears to be connected to political motives involving the hostile attitude of state factions toward the village of Lazarat. The atrocious crime is revenge against a village that is a stronghold of the Democratic Party in the South, and is part of the ongoing provocations against Lazarat and its nationalist residents. It is thought that anti-Albanian circles, numerous in Gjirokastër, were also involved in this pattern; they fan the flames whenever calm returns to the South. L.D.

DP Chairman Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha stressed: “The G-8 meeting and its document constitute an important step to be welcomed in the efforts of the United States and other major countries to resolve the Kosovo issue. It should be stressed that the document does not make the cessation of the bombing conditional, and in practice the bombing continues; indeed, it is expected to intensify further. This meeting and its document, which in some respects still need to be developed and clarified (as several foreign ministers said at the press conference), also show that Russia is clearly distancing itself from Belgrade and bringing its position closer to that of the other major powers, which is a positive development in the further international isolation of Milošević. The Democratic Party is convinced that Kosovo’s independence is the best solution for peace and stability in the region, but, viewing independence as a process, it accepts an interim protectorate phase, just as it is convinced that Rambouillet has now been overtaken because of Operation Horseshoe and that the security sphere in Kosovo must be led by NATO. Photograph of Sali Berisha speaking in front of microphones.

The President of the Republic of Kosovo calls the opposition leader The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, telephoned the chairman of the Democratic Party, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha, yesterday morning and had a cordial conversation with him, as well as with its deputy chairman, Mr. Genc Pollo. In this cordial conversation, they congratulated Mr. Rugova on his release and expressed their pleasure that he and his family are now free; they also discussed developments in Kosovo and Albania. During this cordial conversation, Berisha and Rugova expressed their appreciation for NATO and their determination to coordinate all the efforts of the political forces and all political and military actors in Albania and Kosovo, as well as cooperation between them, to speed up the resolution of the Kosovo problem. In this conversation, Berisha and Rugova expressed their wish to meet as soon as possible.

The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, was received yesterday by the Vatican’s foreign minister, Zhan Ly Toran, the Holy See announced. The meeting lasted 45 minutes and focused on the current situation in Kosovo. Pope John Paul II is currently visiting Romania. Toran visited Belgrade at the beginning of April, where he delivered a message from the Pope to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosheviç.

Today, 238 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 para-state in the crime that has shaken the entire Albanian world. The governments of the former Communists, which leave free and unpunished the criminals who took the December Leader’s life, show Albanians that they have been and remain on the side of the murderers, who have names and surnames but are untouched by those in power. Democrats and all Albanians who loved and honored Azem Hajdari cannot tolerate this fact under any circumstances. The government must either capture the criminals and bring them to justice, or publicly declare that it itself committed the murder of Azem Hajdari. Portrait of Azem Hajdari.

A large rally on the eighth-month anniversary of Azem Hajdari’s murder On the eighth-month anniversary of the murder of the tribune of Albanian nationalism, Azem Hajdari, “Bashkim për Demokraci” is organizing a large peaceful rally in “Skënderbej” Square in memory of those who have fallen in Kosovo, on 12 May 1999, at 19:30. THE “BASHKIMI PËR DEMOKRACI” PARTY

If you wish to contribute money for the exhausted children of Kosovo, you can send your donation to account number 34220/00/0376 at “Dardania Bank” in the name of the association: “The Children of Kosovo, Our Children”.

“Union for Democracy” warns of a left-wing coalition ON PAGE 3