At the invitation of the Chinese Association for International Friendly Contacts (CAFIU), a delegation of the Socialist Party of Albania, headed by its Chairman, Fatos Nano, departed for the People’s Republic of China, At the invitation of the Chinese Association for International Friendly Contacts (CAFIU), a delegation of the Socialist Party of Albania, headed by its Chairman, Fatos Nano, departed for the People’s Republic of China. During its stay in China, the delegation is scheduled to hold talks with senior representatives of the Chinese state and government as well. At the airport, the delegation was seen off by the deputy chairman of the Socialist Party and Chairman of the Socialist Parliamentary Group, Namik Dokle, and the Socialist Party Secretary for Foreign Relations, Bashkim Zeneli. Also present was Tao Miao Fa, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Tirana. Correspondent of «Zëri i popullit»

Protest by freeholders - The owners ask for the president, but he does not come out - 21 people detained by the police - Azem Hajdari: Why are you asking for the President? Go to the prime minister; he makes laws. Yesterday at 8:00, several hundred owners who are members of the «Freeholders’ Association» gathered at the «International» Hotel, concerned about the approval of the law on the restitution and compensation of owners. Worried, confused and irritated, they wanted to know and be informed about the approval of Articles 16 and 17 of the law. The association’s chairman, Mr. Qirjako Noti, informed them that the articles they were concerned about, under which their shops would be taken from them, had been approved by Parliament the previous night by a majority vote. The law was now awaiting promulgation by the President. Mr. Noti said their protest would take place on 19 April, since the Ministry of Public Order had authorized it for that date. These words further irritated the owners standing inside and outside the hotel building, watched over by the police, who ordered them to go inside because their gathering was considered illegal. A few moments later, the owners left the hotel and headed for the President’s residence. They walked along the entire «Dëshmorët e Kombit» boulevard under police supervision. It was 9:15. The owners had gathered in front of the President’s residence and were shouting: «We want the President», «We want our rights», «Freedom, democracy». Facing the crowd stood police forces, which had by then been reinforced many times over. The owners shouted «We want the President», while only staff members could be seen in the windows of the presidency. By now, on the protestors’ right-hand side, MP Azem Hajdari was standing as a spectator, talking to the police while watching the crowd. The owners sat down on the boulevard in front of the President’s gate. A police car tried to ... ... the crowd had become irritated. Deputy Hajdari’s hesitation came to an end. He headed toward the crowd, which was shouting his name. He tried to calm them down. They asked him to secure the release of those detained. Azem Hajdari tried to move the crowd away from the presidency and onto the opposite sidewalk. The owners again demanded the President. The police continued to move them away from the area opposite the presidency and to separate from the crowd those they considered the most «dangerous». At the hand of the chief in a gray suit and blond hair alone, a total of 21 people were detained. It was strange that this same chief intervened to prevent a woman dressed in black, who was being forcibly dragged by police officers, from being put into the car. Hajdari continued to stand surrounded by the crowd. His discussions with the crowd grew heated. «I’ve followed you at every rally,» a woman told him. «Why aren’t you with us today? We have rights.» Hajdari replied: prime minister; he makes laws.» A man dressed in brown asked Hajdari why the police were intervening by force. Hajdari appeared surprised, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away, saying: «Come on, I’ll take you to them too» (those detained in the car). A few moments later Azem Hajdari left the crowd, which, surrounded and forced by the police, was moving ever farther away from the presidency. A young man was forcibly pulled out of the crowd and badly beaten by police officers. Fortunately, this act could not be seen from the windows of the presidency. The police continued escorting people along the entire boulevard. Watching that painful scene, one’s thoughts wander somewhere [?], and even raise several questions. Has the President ever been closer than this to the concerns of this people? Why did this law have to be approved? What will happen tomorrow if those with a grievance gather in front of the presidency and no one receives them?

Judging by the noise made by a helicopter, which landed on Thursday afternoon at the «Tomorri» stadium, interrupting the training match for a few moments, it has become known that, following the inauguration of the Tirana-Berat air route, Bishop [unclear] by Minister Zhulali, Mr. Agron Musaraj is the second minister to inaugurate a new route. At the «airport», the minister was welcomed by Berat’s chief of police, Mr. Ali Shë-nëpremte, and several other police officers. It is reported that while the helicopter was «flying» in the sky, Mr. Agron’s car was «flying» empty along the ground. For your information, the helicopter returned to Tirana without the minister, because he left the following day using his personal car. The hurried arrival and slow departure, as they say, took place because the person who had ... insulted the minister a few days earlier at the tourist hotel had been caught (the 25-year-old young man named E. Kumaraku). This young man caused a police escort and the chief of public order himself to open fire in bursts near the tourist hotel, reportedly to defend the minister’s honor. There are various comments about this unprecedented burst of gunfire, which took place in full view of many citizens, since it was said that the gunfire was not directed at that drunk young man, but was for the joy of the minister’s arrival and departure, and it became known in Tirana as well. In any case, one thing is certain: E. Kumaraku was taken into custody, and Mr. Agron brought a helicopter to Berat, thereby inaugurating a new air route.

According to information from several villagers in Fush Milot village, in the Milot commune, a few days ago the cow and a calf belonging to Mr. Paniol Kola, head of the public order department of the Laç district, who lives in this village, were stolen. They say this act was committed in revenge, since the chief has brought into the public order department many people who had dirtied their hands with similar acts in the past. The case has been referred to the investigative authorities. LATIF TAFA

Yesterday, at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, the scientific symposium on the topic «The Kosovo Question and the Albanians in the former Yugoslavia», organized by the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Albania and the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republic of Kosovo, continued for its second day. Yesterday, at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, the scientific symposium on the topic organized by the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Albania and the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republic of Kosovo, continued for its second day. At first, the symposium continued its work as it had the previous day, in two sections, where around 30 papers and presentations were delivered, covering a wide range of issues in history and culture—In the afternoon, the symposium continued its proceedings with plenary-session discussions on the papers and presentations that had been heard. Participants from Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, as well as various European countries, once again underscored the importance of such scientific gatherings with broad participation. The importance of such events, it was emphasized in the discussions, is particularly evident in the current complex circumstances in which the Albanian question finds itself. Such gatherings, the participants said, should be widely publicized in the press and mass media, becoming a subject of open debate for all Albanians. The symposium’s closing remarks were delivered by Kosovo academic Gazmend Zajmi, who stressed that our symposium was devoted to a vital and major theme of the issue (Continued on page 4)

We are 225 heads of households who came to the village of Marikaj in the Tirana district several years ago. After the farm was broken up, we have been left like fish on dry land, at risk of being left without land. We have raised this concern with the commune, in the village, and with the highest state authorities, but we have had no solution. Promises and nothing but promises that the land would be distributed according to the law. In fact, the land distribution commission (which has no representatives of the newcomers) has allocated the land on the basis of the former owners. They have kept the centuries-old olive trees. For this reason, at this protest about the land, we first demand: 1. That land be given to us in accordance with the law approved by Parliament; 2. That the land be redistributed by a different commission, which must also include representatives of the families who have arrived. From the representatives of the 225 families of Marikaj village, Tirana

Yesterday, we met on 15 April and discussed the decision of the Freeholders’ Association. Unanimously, all the owners, numbering 1,200 members, oppose Parliament’s decision on the law concerning the return of former owners and denounce Articles 12 and 16, letter C; they denounce this law as anti-democratic and contrary to the law on fundamental human rights. They ask Parliament to respond to their legitimate request that these two articles not be approved, and they agree with the proposal of the Socialist Parliamentary Group for a referendum or for a comprehensive solution that would satisfy everyone. We are determined, they say, to defend at any cost, and within the entire democratic legal framework, the properties we acquired in good faith from this state. Otherwise, this will have social consequences, for which responsibility will lie with those who make anti-democratic laws, those who are afraid to present such decisions to the people but make them secretly, away from the information media and TV, etc. Unanimously, they are calling on the members of parliament to stage a general strike. We addressed our demand to Parliament, the government, the President and all political forces. The leadership of the «Freeholders’ Association» of the Kolonjë district

A reminder for Mr. Sali Berisha Naturally, I would like this alternative for our president Sali Berisha to give him something to think about. The point here is to give importance to oneself, not to what I write. There have been others, too, who have strongly pursued this «Anfare». But, bearing in mind the fact that we exchanged views when we were democrats under the one-party system, and later as members of the opposition, in the sphere of the dimensions of «freedom», I say it openly: either the decoration or the dollars. The story of the president’s decorations is now known. The story of Arafat and the dollars is known. I do not want to repeat any more; since the decoration he received was prepared by the people (even if according to the circumstances of the ti- ...whereas that decoration itself contains the particularly merited commendation for the struggle against the «red dictatorship by the president»), since it also has to do with a kind of confrontation between the dollars collected by refugees and those from the state bank, there is no reason for him to waver: either the decoration or the dollars! He must choose one of the two. The people await what he promised last night. If what is said about you, Mr. Sali Berisha, is true—that injustice and dishonesty revolt you, indeed revolt you more than is fitting for a politician—then you should cast behind you what you have authority over, and thus the authority of the nation as well. PAVILO GJIDEDE

The joint enterprises have started closing, too They started, and now the joint enterprises are closing, too It began operating as a joint venture, but instead of doing well, it did badly. Recently, it has been doing worse and worse. It has been idle more than working. The ratio comes to one month of work and four months off. There has been no improvement in quality or anything else. The local machinery was replaced, but some even older machines, worn out in Europe, were brought in. The enterprise is unable to pay and is in debt to other enterprises. Finally, assistance for the workers arrived, putting the finishing touch to everything. People working there ask, “We don’t know what this enterprise is; it is a mystery and a phantom.” The Albanian state has never shown up here. It not only fails to protect the workers, but itself as well. What is going on? We are talking about a natural resource, a special one: the Grina olive, known in Europe, too. Think of the others. THANAS DINO

It has not been officially confirmed that the cars of the current local officials in the aforementioned towns... It has not been officially confirmed that the cars of the current local officials in the aforementioned towns have taken and brought back the interested former owners, accompanied by elderly men who supposedly knew the old boundaries precisely. It is also said that the Minister of Agriculture, the «reformer» Kalakula, heard a verbal order for the district councils not to hinder the former owners, because this is what was agreed with the «Property with Justice» association. Others say that the minister’s instruction was not verbal, but was sent in writing and bears the note at the top: «Top Secret». Meanwhile, TV and ATSH have been instructed not to provide any information about this operation. The Observer