The PD chairman calls for greater participation by women in the electoral process on page 5

The Italian prime minister issues an ultimatum to Tirana: We will cut off aid on page 7

The left-wing coalition government in Italy has finally abandoned its three-year illusions about the possibility of severing the official Tirana authorities’ ties with the world of crime, after two of its servicemen lost their lives in a clash with Albanian traffickers of undocumented migrants. The toll, tragic for the Italian side for the first time, appears to have been an intolerable pretext the neighbors had been waiting for to turn diplomatic dissatisfaction into the harshest accusation that can be leveled at a state. Belated in its timing, the reaction reeks of pure cynicism, if one considers that it would have been just as justified ten days ago, when the victim was an Albanian child, only eight months old, with a shattered skull. on page 4

A Paris–New York Concorde crashed yesterday evening near the French capital, coming down on a hotel and a restaurant. At least 113 people are believed to have died after the aircraft, packed with German tourists, fell to the ground, marking the first crash of a supersonic Concorde. French police said that all 100 passengers and 9 crew members aboard had died. Four other people, who were at the 72-room “Relais Bleus” Hotel, also joined the death toll. The hotel was engulfed in flames after the crash, and after several hours most of it had been reduced to heaps of twisted metal. There has been no word on what may have caused the aircraft to crash. It had been in service since 1980 and had undergone a major inspection on 21 July. Since production began more than thirty years ago, this is the first time a Concorde has crashed. Air France officials said that all the passengers aboard were German. The passengers had been bound for New York, where they were to continue on a sightseeing cruise. The aircraft crashed at 4:44 in an area where highways intersect, 9 miles northeast of Paris. It went down just minutes after taking off from Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Today marks 681 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 the government of Fatos Nano and his successor in the crime that shook the entire Albanian world. The governments of the former communists, who were free and unrepentant criminals who took the life of the December Leader, are showing Albanians that they have been and remain on the side of the murderers, who have names and identities but are untouched 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 arrest the criminals and bring them to justice, or publicly declare that it itself committed the murder of Azem Hajdari.

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On Saturday, 29 July, at 11:00, the open National Council of FRPD will meet at the PD headquarters. In addition to the chairmen, the deputy chairmen and members of the district presidiums are also invited. The chairman of the PD, Mr. Sali Berisha, will attend.

On Wednesday, 26 July, at 19:00, an expanded assembly of the city of Tirana will meet at the “Farie Hoti” Sports Palace To express the protest of Tirana’s Democrats against the Socialist majority’s arbitrary action to divide the city Members of the parties in the “Union for Democracy” grouping are also invited