After Hillary Clinton and Albright, now the U.S. Secretary of Defense also snubs Tirana “Our forces have left Albania and will return to their bases in the USA. I, on the recommendation of General Clark, have canceled my visit to Albania.” ON PAGE 3

The Albanian government has created all the conditions for a forcible departure of the NATO military forces in Albania. Over the past week, the Albanian police showed that it is the one leading the way in crime and robbery, even when it comes to stealing tents, boilers, mattresses, dishes or carts. Within a period of seven days, the camps set up to receive refugees from Kosovo were ransacked in Vlora, Shkodër, Fier, Librazhd, and who knows what will happen to the other camps after their complete looting. In every instance, the police assigned to guard the camps were the first to descend barbarically upon them, leaving a huge stain on the civilization of Albanians and Albania itself. The scenes were just like those of two years ago, when crowds of people led by people from the committees—who are now policemen—attacked depots and warehouses throughout Albania. In Vlora, fighting over tents, water pipes and tent sheets resulted in the death of a citizen and the wounding of a marine, while in Seman and Shkodër the policemen themselves set up a street market with materials from the camps and began selling them at low prices. The behavior of the police, as well as of the people who went through the camps, destroying and stealing, is a kick in the teeth to the newly formed opinion of Albanians. Whether the Albanian state did nothing out of character when the camps were vandalized in front of AFOR soldiers is not known, but what is certain is that, through its actions and its thieving administration, it has brought a new punishment upon Albanians; that is the gravest thing. Naturally, AFOR soldiers do not feel welcome in Albania. They felt this from their very first contacts with the Albanian government and the administration it appointed in the field. They have witnessed the major thefts of aid, not only by committees, but also by NGOs connected to the government. Parliament itself has stated that it is not known where more than half the aid arriving for refugees from Kosovo goes. The willingness to help the country build infrastructure has been met with conduct that is alien to the Western mentality. The German AFOR soldiers who went to Berat waited for weeks for the project team to hand over the construction plans to them; after realizing that it would never do so, they drew up the plans themselves and began implementing them, but only after a month or more of delays and waiting. The government administration was no different: from the Ministry of Transport and the prime minister's office down to the funds and tenders. It was supposed to use its own money to begin construction of the Durrës–Kukës road. The conduct of the state administration has contributed greatly to relations between NATO and Albania deteriorating, and has left Albanians themselves with no opportunity to benefit from the resources NATO's involvement in Albania brought. When they arrived, they said they would build a great deal of infrastructure; today, after three months or more, the corrupt Albanian bureaucracy, backed by crime, has managed to earn the displeasure of the world's most powerful soldiers. Neither the Ministry of Transport nor the prefect of Berat is any different from the policemen of Librazhd or Fier, or from the crowds that attacked the camps. For both the former and the latter, NATO and the AFOR troops must have a different image—one that makes us blush, but not the Albanian government, the thieves and the criminals surrounding it.

Crowds led by police forces and state officials demolish dozens of camps in broad daylight in Vlora, Seman, Elbasan, Peshkopi, Shkodër, Ura e Matit, etc. The armed gangs of ’97 return Crowds led by police forces and state officials demolish dozens of camps in broad daylight in Vlora, Seman, Elbasan, Peshkopi, Shkodër, Ura e Matit, etc. The government drives AFOR out ON PAGE 3 The armed gangs of ’97 return Colonel Williams: NATO troops are not here to fight gangs, but to carry out a humanitarian mission

The mayor of Tirana denounces the coalition government's centrist governing practices Bроjka: They won't let me cooperate with NATO The Albanian government is unwilling to...

Delegates and guests are hereby notified...

U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen canceled his scheduled visit to Albania, reaffirming the great U.S. snub of official Tirana, which began a long time ago. Mr. Cohen's canceled visit adds to the long list of the highest-ranking officials in the U.S. administration who have bypassed Tirana in their packed recent Balkan itineraries, which are read as a clear rejection by Washington of the policy of the coalition government. About a month ago, America's First Lady, Hillary Clinton, canceled her scheduled visit to Tirana, while she did not hesitate to meet the deportees from Kosovo in Macedonia. Immediately after her, the “second lady” of the United States, Madeline Albright, also snubbed Tirana, while U.S. President Bill Clinton summoned Albanian President Rexhep Meidani and Prime Minister Pandeli Majko to Skopje, after a visit lasting several hours to the Macedonian capital. Clinton's gesture—a special case in international relations, in which senior officials of one state are summoned to meet in another country—is now fully understood as a clear message to the Albanian leaders, who, through their irresponsibility and poor governance, have pushed Tirana out of all important American and Western itineraries. It is leaders, who, through their irresponsibility and misgovernment, itineraries. By now, no one can believe the temporary diplomatic “success” of “security reasons” as a justification for the one-sided American snub of official Tirana. Everyone knows that Mr. Cohen, just like Ms. Albright, has made two lengthy tours of the Balkan countries, but has never chosen to come to Albania. Indeed, the U.S. Secretary of Defense did not fail to set foot in Kosovo in the first days of NATO troop deployment there, when the flames of war had not yet died down and security could not even be discussed. Therefore, his canceled visit to Tirana should be seen in the broader context of deep American dissatisfaction with what is happening in Albania, since this story cannot be understood any other way. If Cohen's spokesman says that his boss canceled the program “on the recommendation of General Clark,” everyone knows that the NATO Commander-in-Chief himself visited Albania several times during the bombing, but it seems that much has changed since then. The canceled ceremony to welcome Mr. Cohen in Tirana comes at a time when reports and evidence of AFOR troops leaving Albania are mounting, even though until quite recently it had been said that NATO troops intended to remain in the country for a long time. Mr. Cohen snubbed Tirana at a time when the gangs of 1997 are rapidly reappearing in Albania, led by bandit policemen who have descended on the camps set up by AFOR troops for deportees from Kosovo. And this situation is far more serious than “security reasons,” if those were indeed the reason for canceling the visits of senior U.S. officials to Albania. But even if security problems were the Americans' genuine concern, that is no consolation at all for Tirana's leaders, who, two years after coming to power, have left the country at the same level of crime and insecurity as during the times when there was no state—when, two years ago, it came under the control of armed gangs, which helped bring the Socialists to victory in the June 29 elections. Just two days ago, the U.S. Under Secretary of State, who arrived unexpectedly in Tirana, warned that the U.S. position toward Albania would be conditional on the restoration of order and the fight against corruption, wounds that have been bleeding for two years in this country. Therefore, the U.S. Secretary of Defense's refusal to visit Tirana should be seen as another signal from Washington, expressing its rejection of a state that, by force or otherwise, has submitted to the violence of gangs and the mafia.

Ten months have passed since the day of the “Murder of the Century” ON PAGE 3

Genc Pollo: The government should implement those Council of Europe demands that Dokle supported in Strasbourg The Council of Europe’s political director reaffirms the failure of the socialist government to restore the rule of law ON PAGE 3

Today, 299 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 successors in the crime that shook the entire Albanian world. The government of the former communists, which leaves free and undisturbed the criminals who took the life of the December leader, shows Albanians that it stands against them and on the side of the killers, who have specific names but are untouched by those in power. The government must either capture the criminals and bring them to justice, or publicly declare that it itself committed the murder of Azem Hajdari.

On Wednesday, July 14, 1999, at 11:00 a.m., the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party will meet in Durrës. The preliminary meeting will take place near the headquarters of the DP branch in Durrës.