ZËRI I POPULLIT Kosovo Albanians together, an excellent atmosphere EUROPEAN RESOLVE TOWARD SERBIA BOMBS OVER KOSOVO OR OVER RAMBUJË PAGES 9, 15

ZËRI I POPULLIT DIARY 100 thousand whistles and counter-tanks pass through customs They pass through Kapshtica customs, but the Greeks catch them PAGE 12

COURAGE, FOR THE TRUTH

Press conference today, the Prime Minister speaks

SHKODËR — Add to these five cases of car thefts from private premises within the city, or the evening-time thefts of personal belongings from various citizens in 7 cases in the “Tre Heronjtë” neighborhood over four days

All Albanians must continue calculating percentages when it comes to their personal safety. January—according to figures published by a daily newspaper—has taken another 5 percent from the share of safety, adding it alarmingly to insecurity. Forty-three murders have sent that many Albanians to their graves in the first month of the year. Just as many more could have died had the bandits not come up against police officers, whose presence threw off their aim. Under these circumstances, the calculations of life’s percentages show, at the end of the month, that crime rose by a further 5 percent compared with last December. The curve is indeed rebelling, while crime is clothing Albanians in the mantle of fear through violence. But while everyone waits and calls for this situation to change, the eye and attention search for a word of hope and cannot find one. That is because the Minister of Public Order, the person who should have taken stock of the month’s security, did not speak about anything of the sort. He spoke plenty during the month, but not about personal safety. On a few occasions, he appeared in the press to respond to newspapers about his removal. Although nobody has asked for such a thing, the Minister’s public appearances were nevertheless answers to that question. During the past month, the Minister said that he “knew the scenario” and that “the push for his removal came from within the Government.” Meanwhile, yesterday he told a newspaper that the removal of one deputy minister and the retention of another had put his relations with the Government in an anomalous position. From all this, it seems the Minister is putting on the costume of a temporary officeholder. It suits him so well that all of us, curious, must ask: Minister, tell us the scenario! While nobody has yet thought to call for his removal from the post of Minister of Public Order, everyone is demanding work—and only work—against crime at this moment. Yesterday, while observing the main boulevard in Burrel—a town 100 km from the capital—we counted 23 memorials bearing the names of 23 young men killed in that town. There may be no memorials in Shkodër, but the people there resemble them: just as few and just as frozen as they walk along the street. In Korçë, the series of murders seems to have no end. Meanwhile, no news has been added to this atmosphere of a murderer being killed. Nobody is asking for the minister’s chair now. But it cannot be defended by saying that so-and-so or someone else wants to have me removed because they want to take my place. The chair can be kept only through work. The gains in personal safety, hard-won and tangible to Albanians, can best replace the republican bodyguards—with their guns, now even international ones—who accompany the morning coffee at the “Tirana” hotel...

TIRANA - Albanian Prime Minister Pandeli Majko returned to Tirana on Monday afternoon after a packed week-long visit to the United States of America. His somewhat delayed arrival at Rinas Airport did not give the first socialist Prime Minister to set foot in the “Land of Democracy” an opportunity to offer his customary remarks after completing his visit to the USA. In interviews given days earlier to prestigious foreign broadcasters, the Albanian Prime Minister described the visit as successful, in terms of the support he found from the American side for issues such as Kosovo and the further development of the democratic process in Albania. The Albanian Prime Minister, who also had the opportunity to meet President Clinton, is expected to speak at midday today at a press conference at the Government headquarters about the results of his visit to the USA. Prime Minister Majko and U.S. President Bill Clinton (Photo: Meksi Xhufka)

Sarandë, livestock thieves in blue uniforms PAGE 7

BULQIZË - The miners at the chrome mine in Bulqizë are receiving their overdue wages for January. This news was confirmed to “Zëri” by the spokesperson for the “Albkromit” corporation in Tirana. All 1,800 miners in Bulqizë will receive their January wages, and alongside them, hundreds of other employees of the enrichment plant will also receive their overdue wages.

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP IN OPPOSITION MEETS TODAY

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POUND/DOLLAR London 1600 GMT $U.S. Friday $1.7031 1.6995 1.6910 1.6825 The dollar 147.00 Eu. 157.70 Monday