Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA), 98-07-16

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

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

CONTENTS

[01] Italian authorities return 160 Albanian refugees

[02] Police seize a vehicle carrying 29 Kalashnikovs

[03] Alpha Credit interested in privatisation of economic enterprises

[04] Japanese government offer $5 million grant to children, women hospitals

[05] 50 refugees from Kosova arrive in Has

[06] 48 hours from a mother's life

[07] Kalakula says Berisha should have quitted political scene

[08] Gjanci hydro-power station active again

[09] Minister Teta has profited no cent from police officers' rewards - spokesman

[10] Measures to heighten military readiness

[11] Police intercept six Kurds

[12] No options, including military, have been ruled out in resolving Kosova crisis - Rubin

[13] Fighting engulfs Prizren

[14] Kosova Albanians inaugurate their parliament -Rugova and deputies

[15] Nano says aid for Kosova refugees increases

[01] Italian authorities return 160 Albanian refugees

"Italian authorities have returned on board of "La Vikinga", "Iliria", "Maria del Joros" ferries 160 Albanian refugees, who left Albania on board of dinghies from different parts of the Albanian shore," Captain Klement Pikuli, commander of the police border crossing in Durres port said to ATA.

Captain Pikuli said that there were also Macedonian and Kosova citizens among them.

The border police in Durres port checked their papers and allow them to go. Some 10 people detained by the Italian police as the owners of the motorboats and dinghies have been handed over to Durres police for further investigation. s.s/mima/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[02] Police seize a vehicle carrying 29 Kalashnikovs

Both persons were taken to the local police station for inquiry.

Two pistols, two flak jackets and a considerable amount of money were also found in the vehicle. s.s/mima/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[03] Alpha Credit interested in privatisation of economic enterprises

They discussed the privatisation of strategic sectors and procedures to be followed for the privatisation of 473 small and medium enterprises.

Bello briefed them on the work of the Albanian government for the completion of the legal framework for the privatisation and procedures and deadlines defined by law.

Representatives of the Greek bank expressed interest in participating in process of privatisation both directly and on behalf of its clients. /agj/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[04] Japanese government offer $5 million grant to children, women hospitals

Japanese specialists will see the situation in these institutions and will decide together with the specialists of the Albanian Health Ministry where and how to use the fund, a spokesman of the ministry said.

He said that the Albanian Minister of Health Leonard Solis and representatives of the Japanese government agreed on Wednesday on delivery of the fund. They are expected to sign an agreement on reconstruction of both institutions.

The fund will help provide necessary equipment for hospital rooms, replacement of old apparatus, medicaments and reagents as well as improve the infrastructure within the pediatric hospital. s.sh/mima/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[05] 50 refugees from Kosova arrive in Has

"The 50 refugees arriving recently from Kosova were provided food aid and clothes from the Albanian Red Cross," Muhamet Ukperaj, head of the Golaj commune said to ATA.

22 persons from Planeja village, commune of Prizren, who are living in the dormitory of the secondary school in Kruma city have arrived in Has district in March this year. ake/mima/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[06] 48 hours from a mother's life

BAJRAM CURRI, July 16 (ATA) - A small room of a single floor house uncomfortable to stay in due to humidity and "full" of mattresses, pillows and blankets distributed by the Albanian government to help people coming from Kosova is the place where Merita Vulaj, the mother of three children Gentiana, Albana and Genti, who experienced a 48-hour nightmare but also the joy of hugging each other again, lived.

"I do not know how I have escaped death. I thought that my daughters were killed by Serbs and I still do not believe that they are here with me together with my little son ... it is God's gift," Merita, a woman from Peja, who has been staying in Bajram Curri city for a week, said with tears in her eyes.

Merita Vulaj, who turns 35 next week but whose face seemed very weak, sitting in a mattress which bears the seal of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), was trying to tell the nightmare of July 3.

"... I left Peja early in the morning for Junik with my children to visit my parents. My husband remained home to protect the land and what we have managed to secure during these years. When we arrived in Junik, the Serb forces started shelling and the general staff of the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) decided that the civil population headed for Albania," the Kosova mother continued to tell her story though it was difficult to narrate it in details.

At 21.30. p.m. the 250-member group, mostly women, children and elderly people, headed for Tropoja. Merita together with her son were riding the horse of her father Zenuni, who was walking with her daughters. After they have walked over half the way to the border with Albania, a powerful light illuminated all the area. Hardly one minute passed when a "torrent" of bullets and shells fell on 250 Kosova people. The Serbs were so near and informed on the movement of this group of civilians began their routine pounding for half an hour.

"I did not know what happened in that moment; I heard only shouting and irregular movements of panic-stricken people. Later I heard the horse neighing and falling down together with me. It blocked my left leg, which still aches. At that moment, I thought of my son whom I was embracing in my arms, but I did not know for how long because I lost consciousness ...," Merita said, embracing his four-year-old son as that terrible night.

After regaining consciousness, the woman took the son and together with four other people walked along the rocky paths crossing the border and stayed in a cave until dawn.

The Serb forces, as it was said, stopped shelling after they were attacked on the sides by the KLA fighters, who were accompanying the large group of civilians.

Early next morning, Merita and her little son have been taken by some shepherds who have sent her to the hospital. The doctors and UNHCR employees, deployed in Tropoja, have immediately taken care of her. Alda, a translator of the UNHCR, told that when Merita gained consciousness, she began to cry loudly for her two daughters she thought killed by the Serbs.

For 24 hours, the woman from Peja seemed to be dead despite efforts from the doctors, but she came back to life next day when the miracle happened.

Early on Monday, two men from Kosova have handed over to the Catholic nuns' center in Fierze two small girls, who had lost their mother. The 8 year-old Gentiana, convinced that her mother was alive, had passed the border and asked the nuns to help her find the mother. The nuns informed the local UNHCR office, which had the identikit of Merita's lost daughters.

When the UNHCR fuori strada entered the hospital area and Alessandra, local UNHCR chief, together with the girls entered the room where "dead" Merita was laying, the hospital staff saw a miracle; she, the woman, who had lost willingness to leave, came back to life.

"I could not believe my eyes; I thought I was in paradise," mother from Peja said speaking in her dialect while tears falling down on her white cheeks.

The story of Merita is a small part extracted from the huge book of barbarous crimes exerted by Serbs against innocent Albanians which have forced men to take up arms under the KLA and defend their families and houses.

"They (Serbs) have carried out horrible massacres. They have raped 12 to 13 year old girls, have torched children alive and killed elderly people. I have seen these with my own eyes when I was coming from Peja. They do not deal with men and KLA fighters but only with civilians," said Merita, who could not hold thanking Tropoja people and UNHCR volunteers in the city, who, as she said, "brought her to life again." ake/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[07] Kalakula says Berisha should have quitted political scene

Kalakula, former member of the Democratic Party (DP) chairmanship and former minister of the DP government, accused the DP leaders of tensioning the political situation at home and laid the blame mainly on Sali Berisha.

"The DP leaders are pursuing a policy which does not serve the situation at home. Sali Berisha should have left the political scene," Kalakula told a news conference on Thursday.

Kalakula said that Berisha's policy, also mentioning here the latest DP decision for a final separation from parliament is a destructive policy and does not serve Albanian opposition's progress.

"Berisha's policy, a policy which has not found support either in the stands of the international community, is damaging the image of the DP,in whose ranks there are many people pure and worthy of leading this party," said Kalakula.

The European Troika (OSCE, KoE and the European Parliament) in a joint statement condemned the latest DP decision to boycott parliament, considering it an action which does not serve the democratic life of the country and calls on it to reconsider its decision.

The United States, through a statement of the State Department made public last Thursday, regarded the DP decision to quit parliament as a "step backward in the consolidation of Albania's democratic development."

The DP decision to finally quit parliament was considered wrong last Thursday also by the chief of the German diplomacy, Klaus Kinkel, during a visit in Tirana.

"This action of Sali Berisha is something very negative. Reconciliation of the political forces at home remains the main demand of the International Community for Albania and in this direction Sali Berisha's action is wrong, " said Kinkel. /s.s/das/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[08] Gjanci hydro-power station active again

Gaqo Blushi, director of the district's energy affiliation, told ATA that this hydro-power station has been put into operation after an investment of ten-million leks to repair the main channel, and 20 million leks for conduits repair.

The station supplies the energy system with 1500 kW/hour and will soon operate in full capacity of 3 000 kW/hour.

The Gjanci hydro-power station is part of the hydro-energy system of the reservoir bearing the same name, which, besides producing electric energy, has also irrigation capacity in 6000 hectares of land. /s.sh/pas/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[09] Minister Teta has profited no cent from police officers' rewards - spokesman

"Reports and opinions made public by several newspapers that the Minister of Public Order has received 10 million leks as a reward for his anti-contraband contribution, are not true," the spokesman of this ministry told ATA.

"A group of specialists, which has verified the dynamics of distributing rewards, has confirmed that Minister of Public Order Perikli Teta has profited no cent from these rewards." /s.s/das/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[10] Measures to heighten military readiness

Currently, military readiness tests have become massive in the defensive zone of the Infantry Second Division in Kukes.

The spokesman of this division, Azem Perllaku, told ATA that these tests have been carried out in the three districts covered by the Division, mobilising in them representatives of all ages able to fight.

Perllaku said that the training process of both active and reservist forces has gone on normally.

This training will continue in the future, too, said Perllaku. /a.ke/das/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[11] Police intercept six Kurds

Fier police intercepted six Kurdish citizens, the vice-director of the Fier Prefecture police Department told ATA.

Milto Kordha said that the Kurds were intercepted on the Ballsh-Fier (southwest of Albania) road segment, on Thursday at around 12.00 a.m. and later were taken to the police station.

Kordha said that three of them were pregnant women with children and that they were going to Fier. They were travelling on Athens-Tirana bus and, according to preliminary data, they aimed to go to Italy.

Kordha said that the Kurds would be taken back to Kakavije to return to the starting point.

It is the first time over the last month that police have intercepted Kurds on this road segment. /a.ke/das/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[12] No options, including military, have been ruled out in resolving Kosova crisis - Rubin

of the U.S. State Department James Rubin said Wednesday, reaffirming the U.S. stand at a news conference, which had Kosova at the centre of its attention.

The Foreign Ministry press and information department told ATA that Rubin has considered absolutely right the indignation of the people at the Serbian authorities and violation of their legitimate rights.

Expressing support for these rights of Albanians, Rubin said: "We wish to see radical changes, so that Yugoslavia ensures the improvement of the fundamental and legitimate rights of the Kosova People."

Referring to plans for military actions, he said that no options have been ruled out; plans for a military intervention continue, even at accelerated rates. /a.ke/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[13] Fighting engulfs Prizren

This afternoon fighting also engulfed the city of Prizren (20 km from Albania's northern border) and its suburbs.

At around 13:30 in the Tasus quarter, in the suburbs, only two km from the city centre, Serbian military and police forces began heavy artillery shelling from the fighting positions in the site called "Ura e Lloces".

Sources from the spot say that several houses have been covered with smoke and fire. They say fierce fighting is also taking place in the suburbs of the Hoce e Qytetit village, in Prizren's suburbs, where powerful blasts are being heard from.

Many inhabitants of the Prizren suburbs are leaving their homes because of the fighting.

The Democratic League of Kosova (LDK), at an emergency meeting today, denounced the Serbian attack and called on the citizens to stay home as much as their can so as to counteract to the Serbian aims of ethnic cleansing. /das/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[14] Kosova Albanians inaugurate their parliament -Rugova and deputies

The Parliament of the Republic of Kosova, emerging from the elections of March 22 this year in Kosova, was inaugurated in Prishtine today.

The elections were held after the expiry of the mandate of the first democratic pluralistic Parliament of Kosova, which emerged from the May 24 elections of 1992 and which could not convene under very grave conditions of Kosova.

Today's meeting to inaugurate the parliament of Kosova, with the participation of the deputies of all parliamentary parties was held in the Presidency of Kosova and the Democratic League of Kosova (DLK) headquarters, as the building of the Kosova parliament has been occupied by the Belgrade military and police regime since the beginning of July 1990.

The legislators carried out all the procedures of inaugurating the Parliament and its commission, based on the Constitution of the Republic of Kosova.

Academician Idriz Ajeti, LDK deputy, was elected speaker of parliament.

Gjergj Dedaj, deputy of the Liberal Party, Zef Morina of the Albanian Christian-Democratic party, and Iljaz Kurteshi of the Social-Democratic Party were elected deputy speakers.

Fatmir Sejdiu, LDK deputy, was elected secretary of Parliament.

In his oath of allegiance, the president of the Republic of Kosova, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, said that he will energetically devote himself to achieving and safeguarding the Independence of the Republic of Kosova in its territorial integrity, to ensuring human and civil rights and freedoms.

The Kosova parliament was inaugurated under extraordinary war state conditions in Kosova and without any public announcement of its inauguration today, so that the Serbian forces could not prevent it convening.

After the end of the parliament's proceedings, Serbian forces, backed by armaments, surrounded the building and later, through many provocations and threats entered it.

Serbian forces and participants of Serbian state security members confiscated armloads of documents.

Meanwhile diplomats of the United States, accredited to Belgrade and who were in Prishtine and representatives from the U.S. Office in the Kosova capital also arrived there. /sh.dha/pas/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[15] Nano says aid for Kosova refugees increases

According to the spokesman of the Prime Minister, Nano said in his speech that the aid for this population is increasing and the government will soon begin taking measures to cope with winter.

Nano made an analysis of the situation in Kosova and its consequences in Albania.

He asked the public order and defence ministers to neutralise all attempts to raid arms depots as well as illegal trafficking.

Referring to the situation in Kosova, Nano said that its is very important for Albanians not to lose international support.

They should find common language with one another and show to the international community and, particularly, the Contact Group, that they are able to reach political compromises.

An agreement is imposed on the Albanian factors which should be applied as soon as possible. /a.ke/pas/lm/

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