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Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA), 98-09-02Albanian Telegraphic Agency Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Home Page at <http://www.telpress.it/ata>Albanian Telegraphic AgencyCONTENTS
[01] Rugova, USAID assistant administrator discuss Kosova situationPRISHTINE, Sept 1 - ATA correspondent in Prishtina Behlul Jashari reported that leader of the Republic of Kosova Ibrahim Rugova held talks on Tuesday with the assistant administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Hugh Parmer and his collaborators accompanied by the Belgrade-based director of the mission Richard Hugh.They discussed the recent situation in Kosova and particularly the humanitarian situation after the offensive of the Serb police and military forces. Rugova said that the situation in Kosova was deteriorating. The fleeing of a number of Albanians out of Kosova represented the first signs of an ethnic cleansing process, Rugova said. He called for an urgent international intervention to halt Serb actions and pave way for return of displaced people from their houses. Parmer said that he was sent by U.S. president Bill Clinton personally to see the situation on the ground and what to do in order to ease the sufferings of the people in Kosova in this grave situation. He stressed the readiness of the U.S. government to bring aid for the people of Kosova. Rugova said that "the people of Kosova needs support and aid in face of this grave situation." He highly praised the USAID presence in Kosova. /das/ak/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[02] Police clear up national road in LazaratGJIROKASTER, Sept 2 (ATA) - By H.Çani: Police forces of Gjirokastra backed by special forces of the Public Order Ministry managed to open the national road near Lazarat village, south of Albania, early on Wednesday at 04.00. a.m.Chief of the regional police Colonel Islam Qibini said to ATA that "the gunmen withdrew in the direction of Lazarat village 3 km south of the city of Gjirokastra when the police forces started the operation and put the road under control. In the hill of Kordhoce, police found arms of different calibers such as anti tanks, heavy machine guns belonging to the gunmen who had also controlled the place." Some 13 damaged and raided long vehicles are at the site and their movement is impossible for the moment because the tires were deflated by fireshots and petrol-tanks leaked. Vehicles are forced to use second roads for the movement is difficult in this road segment. Special forces of Dragot are checking all the vehicles and have taken five persons to the Gjirokaster police commissariat. Special forces of the Public Order Ministry which have entered the Lazarat village are checking the houses of people suspected for the grabbing. The national road near Lazarat village was blocked from Tuesday 14.30. p.m. until early on Wednesday 04.00. a.m. rendering difficult the movement of dozens of vehicles. /das/ak/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[03] "Adriatic bridge" association calls municipality heads in AnconaDURRES, Sept 2 (ATA) - By S. Gjordeni: The association "Adriatic bridge" in Ancona, Italy, calls representatives of port cities in Adriatic to join a five-day round table on the framework of the Sea holiday.Officials from town halls of Ancona, Patra, Igumenica, Iraklion, Split, Zadar, Dubrovnic, Bari on Montenegro and Bisete in Tunisia are expected to attend the round table. A delegation headed by mayor Arqile Goreja will represent the Durres city, central Albania, for the first time in this round table. The aim of the meeting is to strengthen communication between port cities in the Adriatic, increase of trade exchanges, stimulation of reciprocal investments and others. /das/ak/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[04] Islami praises support offered by Turkey on Albania and Kosova issueTIRANA, Sept 1 (ATA)-The very good relations between Albania and Turkey in all fields of mutual benefit as well as the concrete ways and possibilities to increase cooperation were in the focus of a meeting on Tuesday between deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Governmental Coordination Kastriot Islami with the Turkish Minister of State for Relations with Parliament, Government and Sports, Jucel Seckiner.The information and media department of the Council of Ministers reports that Islami expressed that delight that the historical and traditional relations between Albania and Turkey will be materialised tomorrow with another significant step: the signing of a protocol of cooperation in the context of the 5th session of the Intergovernmental commission for economic, trade, industrial and technical cooperation with Turkey, whose co-chairman is Mr. Seckiner. Islami expressed the Albanian government's thanks for the remission of the interests of the Albanian debt to the Turkish State Bank. He also made known to Seckiner the need to open a branch of the Turkish Agrarian Bank in Tirana which would help increase investments in agriculture. Islami said the Albanian state appreciates the support offered by Turkey for Albania and the Kosova issue at multilateral relations level and organisations like NATO. Seckiner said that only on two issues, Cyprus and Albania, all deputies of 12 parties in the Turkish parliament share the same opinion. He also informed Islami that the Albanian-Turkish Business Council, which has not met since '92, will convene in November and this will help find the ways to attract more Turkish firms to the Albanian market. The Turkish Minister of State also pointed to the concern of Turkey at the situation in Kosova and the support the Turkish people have offered and will always offer to the Albanian people in Kosova and Albania. /das/lm/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[05] Passengers of Athens - Tirana bus line robbedTIRANA, Sept 2 (ATA)-By Th. Thanasi, Three masked men robbed the passengers of the Athens-Tirana bus line on Tuesday afternoon, near Rrogozhine.The spokesman of the police of Tirana prefecture told ATA on Wednesday that on Tuesday, at around 16:00, three still unidentified persons, one of them carrying a pistol, ambushed a Tirana-Athens bus, number plated YAY 19 97, driven by Vasilis Papadhopulos, near the site called Dy Cezmat, near the Rrogozhine town (25kn south of Tirana). They robbed the passengers of their money and other valuables. According to the testimony provided by the passengers, the robbers collected under the threat of the pistol nearly 70.000 drachmas and various jewelryes and left immediately. The police of the Kavaje commissariat are working to identify the robbers. /das/lm/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[06] Shots at RENEA in Lazarat-Three special forces seriously injured- GJIROKASTER, Sept 2 (ATA)-By H. Cani, During checks in the houses of persons suspected of blocking the road and looting last night, the forces of Hostile Element Elimination and Neutralisation Unit (RENEA) have been attacked by armed men of Lazarat village (three km south of the Gjirokaster city). Three of the special forces have been seriously injured as a result.According to the Regional Police Director, Colonel Islam Qibini, the incident took place on Wednesday at around 10.30 during an operation to detain the persons much wanted by the police. Qibini told ATA that "Three persons have been seriously injured among the RENEA forces and are being sent to the Greek hospital of Ioannina". The situation in Lazarat remains very tense and gunfire can be heard everywhere, while the RENEA special forces, those of the Gjirokaster commissariat as well as reinforcements from the neighboring districts are almost at fighting positions. The police forces are expected to intervene to neutralise and physically eliminate the persons the police officials consider criminals, charged with a series of grave penal acts. /das/lm/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[07] No Kosova pupil be enrolled in Montenegrin schoolsPRISHTINE, Sept 2 (ATA) - Children whose families have fled Kosova to settle in Montenegro and who have attended lessons in alternative Albanian schools will not be able to continue their lessons in Montenegrin schools, Dragan Kujovic, minister of Education and Science in Montenegro, had said to the Center for Information in Kosova (QIK).Kujovic said that the Albanian pupils should present their certificates in order to certify that they have finished certain class of the education system of the Republic of Serbia. "They who fail to present the certificates will not be enrolled," he said. /das/ak/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[08] Defence Ministry: arms depots to be guarded at all costsTIRANA, Sept 2 (ATA)-By E. Koraqi, The Ministry of Defence and the Army General Staff are determined to implement the military regulation to protect the arms depots from any raiding attempt."Guarding arms depots in all the territory of military units is a primary task of the Albanian Army," spokesman of Defence Army Albert Mullai told ATA on Wednesday. Considering the latest situation, with certain persons attempting to enter territory of a military unit in Mallakaster district to seize heavy weaponry, the Ministry of Defence says that based on the Albanian legislation, fire will be opened on anyone who enters depots' territory and refuses to obey warning. "This is an order, which in certain situations has been repeated and reaffirmed for certain commands or at country scale," the spokesman explains. "Besides the aim to reconstruct the army, our primary duty is to safeguard this asset of the army. This asset belongs not only to the army but to the entire Albanian people." "We will protect these national assets without the slightest hesitation; therefore anyone who dares to break the law and attack arms depots should know that fire will be opened on them," the spokesman said. "In the conditions of a tense situation in the Balkan region, the Albanian army should be stronger than ever, therefore those who attack it, not only will be regarded as violators of the military lines but, after all, will not be considered Albanians." /das/lm/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[09] Serb army builds up fortificationsPRISHTINE, Sept 2 (ATA) - Forces of the Serb army are building up fortifications in the last six days in northeast of Kosova and particularly in the area bordering region of Kamenica and that of Vraja and Bujanovci, Center for Information of Kosova said referring to sources on the ground.The Serb army is using excavators to dig up positions in mountains from the place called Sveti Ilia to that called Ushe sandwiched between Kamenica region and Vraja and Bujanovc, the above sources said. /das/ak/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[10] Seven members of special forces injuredGJIROKASTER, Sept 2 (ATA) - By H. Çani: Seven members the RENEA special forces and Dragoti rapid intervention forces were injured in a one-hour and a half firefight with gunmen while trying to enter the Lazarat village early on Tuesday.Police forces who came under fire were forced to retreat from Lazarat where they had been sent to search for persons who had halted traffic along the national road Gjirokaster-Kakavije, sources of the police directorate of the Gjirokaster prefecture said. A member of the special forces told ATA that "they came under fire of different weapons including a heavy machine gun when they were trying to enter the village in column." His accounts spoke of an organised ambush and not of an occasional confrontation. Chief of the local police Colonel Islam Qebini said to ATA that "our forces have been withdrawn momentarily at the police station in Gjirokastra" but he refused to say how they would operate later. Shootings cannot be heard now in Lazarat village while the traffic in national road runs normally. /das/ak/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[11] Some 15 000 tonnes of wheat, aid of U.S. government, arrive in Durres portDURRES, Sept 2 (ATA)-By S. Gjordeni,The U.S. ship "Trinidy", loaded with 15 000 tonnes of wheat, aid of the U.S. government for Albania, arrived at Durres port on August 29.The director of the port, Leonidha Gjermeni, told ATA that the unloading of the entire amount of wheat ends on September 3. The directorate of the port and the Ministry of Agriculture have taken all measures to send this amount of wheat to the state reserves. /das/lm/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[12] Tensioning of situation by Berisha runs counter to national interests - MajkoTIRANE, Sept.2 (ata) - By A Haxhiu: The tense political situation in the country cannot serve the national interests and more so the question of Kosove, Albanian socialists say."In the conditions when especially the events in Kosove make imperative the cooperation and dialogue inside Albania, this tensioning which has not to do at all with the creation of a democratic opposition by Sali Berisha (opposition DP chairman) runs counter to the national interests," said on Wednesday in a news conference the Secretary General of the Socialist Party of Albania, Pandeli Majko. The acts of Berisha, said Majko, prove clearly his falsity and demagogy towards the great problem of Kosove and the national question. The Democratic Party has declared that it will use all means to topple the government left coalition led by Prime Minister Fatos Nano, following the arrest recently of six former senior officials of this party under the charge of "Crime against Humanity" which according to DP, are politically motivated. In face of the situation in Kosove, which the socialist leader described as rather grave, the beginning of the dialogue and the finding of a common language are so necessary because only in this way, as Majko said, we may help solve the solution to the question of Kosove. Nearly 400 000 Albanians, most of whom women and children are displaced from their dwelling places ruined by the Serb military-police machine in Kosove (90 % of which is Albanian population.) There are 15 thousand refugees who have come from Kosove and have settled in Northern Albania. Albanian parliament is expected to have on Thursday a special session on the situation in Kosove and the state of the displaced Kosovars in Albania. /mima/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[13] Albanian government intensifies its work for accommodation of displaced KosovarsTIRANE, Sept.2 (ata) - By I Luto: Albanian Minister of Finance Arben Malaj stated Wednesday that the fund of 170 thousand dollars financed by donators and one million dollars granted by the World Bank will be used to meet the emergent needs of the displaced Kosovars in northern Albania, the spokesman of Finance Ministry told ATA.Malaj made this statement in a meeting on Wednesday with the Albanian deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Government, Bashkim Fino and with other members of the working group set up for the accommodation of the people coming from Kosove. The government has formed this group for the accommodation of the 15 thousand displaced Kosovars most of whom women and children, who have crossed the border to escape Serb genocide. Most of these people are settled in the region of Tropoje (North of Albania.) Fino asked from the group members to present, as soon as possible, the projects for the accommodation of the displaced Kosovars in the northern districts of Burrel and Puke. The meeting was held immediately after the meeting last Tuesday of the three parliamentary commissions (of Public Order, Foreign Policy and Local Government) which discussed extensively, among other topics, the question of the displaced population from Kosove. Fino demanded from the Ministry of Education to draft a new working plan for the children who have come from Kosove so that to enable them to start school normally. /mima/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[14] DP of Albania supports violent acts in LazaratTIRANE, Set.2 (ata) - The Albanian Democratic Party (Opposition) supports the violent acts of some armed people in the village Lazarat recently.In a press release this party issued on Wednesday says that "DP denounces the communist trick that the clique of Fatos Nano hatched up for Lazarat and its people who are distinguished in the history of the nation for their resistance to the communist persecution." The press release stresses that "other times too bloodshed has been provoked in Lazarat and boys of Lazarat have been arrested without any motive." According to DP "the village of Lazarat is a pillar of the values of democracy in Albania, a strong hearth which preserves the national pride and an insurmountable barrier for those who try to transform Kakavije into a gate of smuggling and economic crime." In the mean time, officials in the Regional Police of Gjirokaster said that the people responsible for the latest events during which 7 special force members of Renea were gravely wounded, are qualified as criminals and are charged with a number of penal acts. At the end of its statement, DP invites the Albanian Government "not to provoke Lazarat and renounce bloodshed and the methods used by the defunct State Sigurimi." /mima/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[15] Fresh measures to improve work in Albanian judiciaryTIRANE, Sept.2 (ata) - By Enkelejda Koraqi: Adoption of measures to improve work in the court administration was the subject of the discussion in a working meeting on Wednesday of the deputy minister of Justice Artan Hajdari and the chairmen of the district courts and appeal courts, spokesman of the Ministry of Justice told ATA.According to the spokesman, among the measures are the test of judges and assistant judges so that to raise the professional level of the judicial administration. A regulation of these courts for the organization of the work in judiciary was considered indispensable for a higher efficiency in the courts. A draft law on judicial police, on the work in the court and secure work for the judges was another proposal of the court leaders. The meeting highlighted the good work made for the rehabilitation of the courts ruined after the March 1997 unrest. /mima/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[16] Projects for intensification of Albania-Turkey relationsTIRANE, Sept.2 (ata) - Irena Luto: Acceleration and materialization of a fruitful economic cooperation was the main topic of the talk that Albanian President Rexhep Meidani had on Wednesday in Tirane with the Turkish Minister of State, Yucel Seckiner, the President's press and Information office told ATA.In the name of his government, the Turkish minister said that they are encouraging only the biggest serious Turkish firms to exploit the possibilities that the cooperation with Albania offers aiminf that economic exchanges reach the figure of 500 million dollars. President Meidani asked that powerful Turkish firms take part in the process of the strategic privatization of the economy, in the infrastructure, tourism, etc. Seckiner said that they were working for the establishment of a private or state Turkish bank in Albania. During the meeting the two interlocutors discussed the extension of the cooperation in the fields of defence, public order and education. Minister Seckiner handed over to Albanian President an invitation by his Turkish counterpart, Sulejman Demirel to attend the ceremony which will mark the 75th anniversary of the proclamation of the Turkish Republic. Attending the meeting also were the Albanian Minister of Agriculture, L. Xhuveli and the Turkish Ambassador in Tirane, Okcun. /mima/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[17] First anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa commemorated in TiraneTIRANE, Sept.2 (ata) - By Nora Zela: The first anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa of Albanian origin, was commemorated in the National Museum of History in Tirane on Wednesday.An exhibition was inaugurated in the museum with photos, the letter exchange of Mother Teresa along with a conference held on the figure of "Mother Teresa". Attending the ceremony was, besides renowned personalities of art, culture and Christian religion, also the President of Albania, Rexhep Meidani. "Mother Teresa (Gonxhe Bojaxhi) is the mystery of the 20th century. This genius of mercy was born by a people who for centuries needed her soul, her hand which was stretched without any hesitation to those who wanted love," said in his address the scholar Moikom Zeqo. Monsignor Rrok Mirdita handed over for the exhibition the full collection of the world press on Mother Teresa. Along with these materials, displayed in the exhibition was also the visitors' book in which great world personalities expressed a year ago their condolences on Mother Teresa. The book was presented to the National Museum of History by the Albanian Embassy in Vatican. /mima/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[18] Protocol on Albania-Macedonia cooperation in law field signedTIRANE, Sept.2 (ata) - By I Luto: The instruments of the ratification of four agreements in the field of justice which were signed at the beginning of this year between the Albanian Government and the Macedonian government, were exchanged on Wednesday in Tirane, the press and information department of the Albanian Foreign Ministry told ATA.The protocol for the exchange of the ratification instruments was signed by Albanian Foreign Minister, Paskal Milo and the Macedonian Ambassador in Tirane, Risto Nikovski. At the beginning of the current year, four agreements were signed between Albania and Macedonia: one for the elimination of double taxation; one for the judicial assistance in the civil and penal fields; another for the mutual execution of judicial decisions and the fourth for the extradition of the people wanted for penal acts. /mima/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[19] Solana confirms NATO support for AlbaniaTIRANE, Sept.2 9ata) - By I Luto: NATO Secretary General Javier Solana reiterated Wednesday the determination of the organization he is leading to continue the fruitful partnerships and cooperation with Albania, department of Media and Information of the Council of Ministers told ATA.Solana made the declaration in a phone talk he had today with Albanian Prime Minister, Fatos Nano. Solana voiced the satisfaction of NATO and his personally for the results of the cooperation made so far in the context of the Partnership for Peace with Albania and assuring Nano that this activity will continue on the basis of the adopted programs. During the talk, they dwelt on the situation in Kosove, for which Nano underlined Albania's commitments to avoid the tragedy, and the efforts Albania is making to bring both parties by the negotiating table. Nano said it would be good if the crisis was sold peacefully, without ruling out, if need be, also a direct intervention of the North Atlantic Alliance. "NATO is politically committed that Albania continue to develop normally and as a factor for stability in the region," said Solana. He also assured the Albanian government chairman that NATO is supporting the efforts of the Albanian Government against organized crime which has recently intensified, and the work and programs underway for the establishment and consolidation of the rule of law in Albania. /mima/xh/ From the Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Home Page at http://www.telpress.it/ataAlbanian Telegraphic Agency Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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