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Albanian fundamentalists attack the court

TIRANA—Immediately after receiving word of the terrorist attack carried out on the evening of November 11 against the home of Fehmi Abdiu, President of the Constitutional Court, Prime Minister Pandeli Majko, accompanied by several members of the government cabinet, visited Mr. Abdiu’s family. The Ministry of Information reports that, strongly denouncing this criminal act against the head of the Constitutional Court, Majko called on the relevant authorities to make every effort to find those responsible and bring them to justice for this terrorist act. Such actions, Majko further emphasized, aim to discourage the Albanian state institutions’ commitment to implementing the law and strengthening the rule of law. Acts such as these are failed attempts to create a destabilizing image of our country, while the Government is making every effort to restore order and calm and, in this commitment, has received the full understanding of Albanian and international public opinion. As a sign of terror Constitutional Court

Nine apartments destroyed; people escape alive TIRANA—Yesterday evening, at around 20:30, a large quantity of dynamite blew up the home of Mr. Fehmi Abdiu, President of the Republic’s Constitutional Court. The dynamite, placed at the door of Mr. Abdiu’s apartment on the second floor, also almost completely destroyed the apartments on the floor above and those on the first floor. Residents of the building said the explosion had been extremely powerful, causing extensive material damage. The building where the President of the Constitutional Court lives is located about 100 m from the Tirana Prefecture Police Directorate. Perhaps because of this, the police arrived at the scene very quickly, but did not manage to catch the perpetrators. Yesterday evening, numerous police officers and prosecutors continued to take measurements and carry out forensic examinations at the scene. Meanwhile, until after midnight, as today began, there was nothing official about the perpetrators of this terrorist act. From observations at the scene, it was quite clear that the terrorists had aimed to physically eliminate the President of the Constitutional Court and his entire family. At 20:30, all members of the Abdiu family were at home. The terrorists, meanwhile, had acted with extreme ruthlessness. The quantity of dynamite placed on the second floor of the building caused extensive destruction to neighboring apartments. Walls collapsed, and their residents escaped only by luck. The quantity of dynamite was so large that even the reinforced doors were blown away.