Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA), 98-06-22

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From: The Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Home Page at <http://www.telpress.it/ata>

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

CONTENTS

[01] Alliance for State candidates win in four municipalities and six communes

[02] Copper mine in Laku i Rroshit to resume work

[03] Low participation in partial local elections in Albania

[04] Russian deputy Foreign Minister meets Rugova in Prishtine

[05] Trade deficit marks 38.4 billion lek in first five months

[06] Increasing trade exchanges with Italy and Greece

[07] Monday exchange rates

[08] Robbers of passengers of Athens-Tirana bus service arrested

[09] Afanasievski and Agani issue statement after meeting in Prishtina

[10] SP leader confirms deep victory of Alliance for State in polls

[11] International community must resolve Kosova crisis soon, Meidani

[12] Russia is against military intervention in Yugoslavia, Avdeyev

[13] Russia deputy Foreign Minister favours peaceful solution of Kosova crisis

[14] By-elections were mainly held in quiet conditions, CEC head

[15] Intensive fighting continue in border line Albania-Kosova

[01] Alliance for State candidates win in four municipalities and six communes

The Alliance for State candidates have won in the town halls of Vlore, Patos, Ure Vajgurore and Roskovec.

Meanwhile the victory of the candidate of the Union for Democracy grouping in Kavaje town-hall has been confirmed. While in the town halls of the neighboring towns, Shijak (Durres) and Vlore (Tirana), the preliminary returns speak of runoff ballots, in Shijak between two right wing groupings, the Union for Democracy and the United Right Wing, while in Vlore between the candidates of the State Alliance and the Union for Democracy.

Of the nine communes, where the elections for their chairman were held, the candidates of the Alliance for State grouping have won in six of them, in Greshice (Mallakaster), Dhivri (Sarande), Gjergjan and Zavaline (Elbasan), Sineballaj (Kavaje), Lure (Diber), while the Union for Democracy grouping has won in the communes of Bushtrice (Kukes) and Lazarat (Gjirokaster).

The poll turnout in the commune of Proger in Devoll district has not been confirmed yet.

Final vote results of local by-elections are expected to be officially released on Monday by midday, after the arrival and examination of protocols from remote districts. /s.s/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[02] Copper mine in Laku i Rroshit to resume work

The director of the copper mine, Gjin Kola told ATA that after the mine of Fushe Arres and that of Qafe Bari, the mine of Laku i Rroshit will also resume working.

Presently, Kola said, work is going on in the copper mine in Fushe Arrez and in the copper upgrading factory in which 220 workers are employed. The factory produces 100-150 tons of copper every day, he said.

With the resumption of the work in Laku i Rroshit mine, the production there is expected to double and 70 other workers will be employed in it.

The work in these mines was made possible with a USD300 000 by the Albanian Government. All the copper mines in Puke district closed down in 1993, considering them unprofitable, at the time when they were not such./s.s./pas/xh/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[03] Low participation in partial local elections in Albania

According to the chairman of CEC, Daver Cano, until 6 p.m. the participation in the voting was 50-80 per cent. Cano said that the lowest participation of the electors was in the town-hall of Vlore, where, according to preliminary information, 38 per cent of the electors have voted.

The partial local polls were held in 7 municipalities and 9 communes where the former local government leaders had abandoned their posts during the unrest of 1997 or have left for various reasons.

The polls were conducted in the communes of Lazarat (Gjirokaster,) Proger (Devoll,) Lure (Diber,) Dhiver (Sarande,) Zavaline (Elbasan,) Gjergjan (Elbasan,) Sineballaj (Kavaje,) Bushtrice (Kukes,) Greshice (Mallakaster,) and in the municipalities of Vlore, Roskovec, Vore, Patos, Ura Vajgurore, Shijak and Kavaje.

Violations in the voting procedure have been registered in a polling station in the city of Vlore and in one in Roskovec, due to the poor organization.

In some precincts where irregularities were noticed, the Central Election Commission sent its groups with members from the groupings the Alliance for the State and the Union for Democracy. /s.s./pas/xh/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[04] Russian deputy Foreign Minister meets Rugova in Prishtine

He also held closed door talks with the Kosova negotiators, whom he also met last night, upon his arrival in the Kosova capital.

Afanassevski, sent by Moscow on a mission on Kosova, stayed in Belgrade yesterday, while his counterpart with the same mission went to Tirana and Skopje. /lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[05] Trade deficit marks 38.4 billion lek in first five months

The trade deficit rose higher in May because of the machineries and mechanical and electric equipment worth about 1.3 billion lek that were imported. The extension of the imports of machineries and equipment, mainly for new lines and factories which are being constructed or for the rehabilitation of the existing ones, according to specialists, may bring about a growth of the local production and that for export, and consequently the reduction of the high trade deficit.

A light increase of the exported goods was noticed in May, with the export worth more than 2.8 billion lek, the highest registered since the beginning of 1998. a.gj/xh/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[06] Increasing trade exchanges with Italy and Greece

Among the main commodities in the trade exchanges with Italy and Greece are those of textile and shoes serving as raw material for the production of these articles in Albania, along with products of chemical industry, food articles, etc.

Compared with April, the exports and imports with Italy rose respectively 39 per cent and 12 per cent, while with Greece 4 per cent and 18 per cent. a.gj/xh/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[07] Monday exchange rates

Currency Average exchange rates

bought sold USD 153.80 154.20

DM 85.80 86.20

LIT(1000) 87.00 87.30

GRD(100) 50.00 50.15

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[08] Robbers of passengers of Athens-Tirana bus service arrested

The spokesman of the Public Order Ministry told ATA on Monday that on Sunday at around 14.00 p.m., the Fier district police forces arrested three masked gunmen, who had stopped the Athens-Tirana bus line and were robbing its passengers.

The patrol of this commissariat which was driving on the Ballsh-Patos road axis, the spokesman said, noticed at the site called Lajthi, that the bus had deviated from the road and immediately informed heads of the commissariat.

The police forces of the two commissariats in Fier helped arrest the robbers on the spot. They are Perparim Muskaj, 24, Edmond Gropa, 22, and Erion Zeneli, 19. The three inhabitants of the Dukas village of Patos (near Fier).

In the moment of arrest the police found that the robbers had robbed the passengers of some one million drachmas and a great amount of jewelry.

The spokesman said that the ongoing investigations result that Muskaj and Gropa, in complicity with another person, who is identified and is being searched by the police, robbed the bus of this service also early in May, on the same spot. /s.s./pas/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[09] Afanasievski and Agani issue statement after meeting in Prishtina

According to him "the obligations stressed in the joint statement of Presidents Yeltsin and Milosevic open way for the resumption of negotiations" and "the readiness for this exists in Belgrade."

"I consider very important the statement made by Rugova that he remains faithful to the peaceful solution of the crisis," said the Russian deputy Foreign Minister after the meeting with the leaders of Kosova Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova.

Also the coordinator of the Kosova negotiating team, dr. Fehmi Agani, confirmed that "the persistence was to renew talks as soon as possible," but "we had our reserves," he stressed.

"It is our opinion and conviction which we presented even to the Russian deputy Foreign Minister that Serbia or Yugoslavia has blocked the negotiating process with the offensive operations it is undertaking against the civil population in Kosova," stressed Agani.

The attitude of Kosova is that the way for renewing the negotiating process is to respect the requests of the Contact Group," said Agani.

"The key point was missing in the statement of Moscow, the withdrawal of the repression forces in Kosova, without which the negotiating process cannot continue," ended Agani. /rxh/mima/mt/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[10] SP leader confirms deep victory of Alliance for State in polls

"The alliance for State has won both in town-halls and communes. With this victory, the Alliance for State passed its difficult tests in several zones which we had considered as such," the SP Secretary General, Pandeli Majko, told a news conference on behalf of this grouping.

According to Majko, the candidates of the Alliance for State has deeply won in the town-hall of Vlore, Patos, Roskovec and Ura Vajgurore, as well as in the commune of Gjergjan and Zavaline (Elbasan,) in Lure (Diber), Sinaballaj (Kavaje,) Dhiver (Sarande) and Greshice (Mallakaster.)

With regard to the candidates of the right-wing political grouping 'Union for Democracy' Majko said that "according to the information we have so far, this grouping has won in the commune of Lazarat (South) where the destabilizing element obviously operates."

Majko said that the victory in the elections makes the coalition feels optimist for reaching one of its main objectives, drafting a new constitution for the country.

The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Skender Gjinushi, considered these elections the first ones where the voters' lists and participation were normal.

The five parties of the government coalition: The Socialist Party (SP, ) the Social Democratic Party (SDP,) the Democratic Alliance Party (DAP,) the Human Rights Union Party (HRUP) and the Agrarian Party (AG,) as well as the National Unity Party, included in the coalition for the partial local elections, fielded up joint candidates for the June 21 polls, under the name "The Alliance for State." /s.s/mima/mt/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[11] International community must resolve Kosova crisis soon, Meidani

President's press and information office reported that Meidani pointed out the steps made by the Albanian authorities for encouraging the cooperation between the countries of the region towards an integrating policy and peaceful solutions.

"The authorities of Belgrade are responding to this positive climate with violence, ethnic cleansing by encouraging the destabilization of the whole region," Meidani told the Russian deputy Foreign Minister.

The Albanian President said that "the leader of Belgrade is the main persons responsible for the situation created in Kosova by manifesting that he doesn't know any other language, except that of violence and war."

"The European Community should not lose time because the situation is radicalized, thus creating difficulties to the encouragement of democratic means for finding a realistic solution to the situation in Kosova," said Meidani.

Meanwhile, President's press and information department did not give details on the viewpoints expressed in this meeting by the Russian deputy Foreign Minister regarding the crisis in Kosova and the role of President Milosevic.

Advejev, who is holding a two-day visit in Tirana, conveyed to President Meidani the greetings of his Russian counterpart, Boris Yeltsin and the wish of the later that Meidani holds a visit in Moscow soon.

Advejev will leave for Shkup tomorrow where he will hold talks even with the authorities of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) regarding the situation in the region. /s.s/mima/mt/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[12] Russia is against military intervention in Yugoslavia, Avdeyev

"If NATO will do such thing (will military intervene) it should first have the mandate of the Security Council," said Avdeyev during the meeting with the Albanian Foreign Minister, Paskal Milo on Monday.

The international community is very resolute in finding a diplomatic solution and if this is not reached, then it should intervene military," said Milo during the meeting.

The Russian deputy Foreign Minister said that there are the maximal requests of UÇK (Kosova Liberation Army,) whose members are considered by Belgrade as armed terrorists and extremists, those who hinder the withdrawal of troops of the Security Council and the Yugoslav army from the region of Kosova," the adviser of Milo, Skender Minxhozi, told ATA.

Serbian police and pre-military forces have launched in February of this year military operations against the civil population in Kosova (90% of the Albanian population) and due to this some 20.000 Kosova Albanians have come in Northern Albania fleeing their homes in Kosova. NATO aircraft launched on June 15 air exercises over the territory of Albania and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to force him interrupt the military and police operations in Kosova.

Avdeyev, according to Minxhozi, said that his government thinks that the Serbian military forces might be withdrawn part by part parallel to the lowering of tension in the region and Kosova should have an autonomy based on international standards.

Minxhozi said that Milo told the Russian diplomat that one cannot speak about terrorism or armed extremists in Kosova, but there we have a conflict between the Serbian forces of all sorts and a civil population which is defending itself.

"The resumption of dialogue between Prishtina and Belgrade can be reached only if Milosevic interrupts the violence and withdraws his forces from Kosova," said the chief of the Albanian diplomacy.

The Russian deputy Foreign Minister, Avdeyev, said that "Time should be left to Milosevic to keep his promises in the meeting with Yeltsin in Moscow last week. /mima/mt/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[13] Russia deputy Foreign Minister favours peaceful solution of Kosova crisis

"I come here on behalf of President Yeltsin to consult with the Albanian party for a quick and durable solution of the Kosova problem," said Avdeyev during the meeting.

"We would like to wish that if this reprisal (of the Serbian forces against the Kosova population) will continue, then we will be the first to take resolute steps and radical measures to interrupt violence," said Avdeyev.

Some 20 000 refugees from Kosova (90% of the Albanian population) are actually accommodated in Northern Albania, mainly women and children who crossed the border fleeing the Serbian violence and terror.

"We have favoured and favour a solution of the Kosova issue through political means, but for this, both parties should show good will to reach a peaceful and durable solution," said Islami.

Avdeyev said that Russia, as member of the Contact Group, cannot give up the responsibility it has for the solution of the problem in Kosova and restoration of peace in the region of the Balkans.

Islami said that the Albanian government supports the Kosova leader, Ibrahim Rugova and his options for the peaceful solution of the crisis, which will remain only if Serbia will withdraw its military and police forces from Kosova.

"Otherwise, the alternatives which will remain are: the self-defence and resistance or the military intervention of NATO," said Islami.

They both focused on finding the ways for the intensification of bilateral relations in fields of economy, education and culture.

"I would like to underline that we are interested in having a developed and stable Albania, factor of peace in the Balkans," said Avdeyev. /s.sh/mima/mt/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[14] By-elections were mainly held in quiet conditions, CEC head

"Only the democratic methods and ways will lead the Albanian people towards progress," stressed Çano.

With regard to the final results, Cano said that "we cannot give an official information, because the process-verbals of all zones have not reached the CEC."

Cano declared officially that the town-hall of Vore and Shijak will face a second round ballot, the candidate of Union for Democracy has won in the town-hall of Kavaje, while the candidates of the Alliance for State have won in the communes of Gjergjan, Sinaballe and Zavaline.

Cano considered the participation of voters in these elections as low. "It varies from 54 to 80 per cent," said the CEC chairman, adding that "for this, it belongs to the parties to find out the reasons."

But to the deputy chairman of CEC, the participation has been even lower. "The participation in voting varies from 31 to 62 per cent," said Cela, who expressed his own reservations with regard to the conduct of by- elections. He declared the presence of special forces in several voting centers and the voters' lists were missing in any voting center.

These claims were turned down by chairman Cano.

"The monitors sent by the CEC in Roskovec or other voting centers have not noticed the presence of special forces or lack of voters' lists," said Cano.

According to chairman Cano, "in spite of several small concerns noticed in one zone or another, the voting process in general has been held in quiet conditions, thus the results will be accepted by all." /s.sh/mt/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[15] Intensive fighting continue in border line Albania-Kosova

According to reports, more than 500 grenades have been thrown in the border village of Smolice and powerful shelling has occurred in the other border villages of Morine, Neci, Brovine, Stubell and Berjah in the commune of Gjakove and Gramcel, Bablloq, Gllogjan and other villages of the Decan commune.

Sources from Kosova also report on a very grave situation in the town of Kline and many other villages of the suburbs, where the Serbian forces have been deployed.

Many forces of the Yugoslav army have moved today along the road Gjakove-Prizeren with heavy armament. /mima/mt/

From the Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Home Page at http://www.telpress.it/ata

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