Following a statement by the finance minister against smuggling and smugglers PAGE 5

CEC: Runoff elections take place today; everything is ready PAGE 2

LIVE FROM THESSALONIKI Xehaxopoulos–Hajdaraga meeting: Greek aid for the Albanian army moves forward PAGE 4

SOCIALIST PARTY CONFERENCES HELD Kuçovë: A party of constructive criticism PAGE 2

Korçë: Majko, we have kept our promises PAGE 2

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Crans Montana: Prime Minister Nano refutes manipulations concerning Kosovo’s independence Crans Montana Forum. Crans Montana Forum.

Nano–Holbrooke meeting Press statement by the Prime Minister’s spokesperson Nano–Holbrooke meeting Common positions on Kosovo Press statement by the Prime Minister’s spokesperson Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano met yesterday, during the proceedings of the Crans Montana Forum, with the United States Ambassador to the UN and, at the same time, President Clinton’s special envoy for the crisis in the Balkans, Richard Holbrooke, with whom he discussed the main issues of the crisis in Kosovo as well as possibilities for its peaceful resolution. Nano and Holbrooke shared the view that the withdrawal of Serbian military and police forces from Kosovo is urgent and must be accompanied by a ceasefire and the start of talks on Kosovo’s political future. In these talks, Nano said that the Albanian political factor must be inclusive and bring together, around Ibrahim Rugova, all the alternatives within the Kosovo People’s Movement. The current status of the Yugoslav Federation does not promise a lasting solution that respects the equal rights and freedoms of all peoples in Yugoslavia. Ambassador Holbrooke said that his mission in Kosovo had not failed and that it was continuing even at that moment, while the American ambassador in Skopje, Kris Hill, was meeting Ibrahim Rugova in Prishtina. Asked by the Albanian Prime Minister about the possibility of NATO military intervention to stop the Serbian war machine, Holbrooke stressed that every option was possible. NATO, Holbrooke concluded, had not sought a United Nations mandate for its bombing operations in Bosnia. PAGE 3

The first two quarter-final matches are over Vieri saves Italy Brazil and Italy are the first two teams to advance to the last eight PAGE 14

Our literary page: Fables by Gjikë Kurtiqi Kristidhi, near to and far from the piano PAGES 9, 16