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Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA), 98-10-09Albanian Telegraphic Agency Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Home Page at <http://www.telpress.it/ata>Albanian Telegraphic AgencyCONTENTS
[01] Statement of Albania's Foreign MinistryTIRANE, Oct.8 (ata) - In the course of some consecutive provocations since September 30, 1998 until now on the state border between the Republic of Albania and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, today at 4.30 p.m. until 5.00 p.m., Yugoslav military-police forces have entered 50 meters in the territory of Albania in the village Dobrun of Has, in the Region of Outpost C 2, and have opened fire towards the border post and the village. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Albania and its border authorities have demanded to hold talks with Yugoslav authorities several times with regard to these incidents, but receiving no reply.Today's grave provocation, like others in the past days, is another clear testimony to the consistent provoking policy of the Belgrade authorities towards the Republic of Albania, its state integrity and sovereignty. It is not by chance that such provocations take place after the warmongering and anti-Albanian speech of Momir Bullatovic in the Yugoslav Parliament. Such acts, taking place at a time when the Yugoslav government is facing the direct charge of exerting genocide and state terror towards Albanians in Kosove and when a strong punishment is expected for the perpetrators of these monstrous crimes, prove that the official Belgrade is blindly continuing to apply the plan of instigating the regional conflict and staging a real threat to peace and stability in the Balkans. Such provocations carried out precisely on the day when the NATO Council of Ambassadors has convened in Brussels and the foreign ministers of the Contact Group have met in London to discuss the decisions for the implementation of the Resolution 1199 of the U.N. Security Council, show once more that the warmongering generals and chauvinistic politicians in Belgrade are seeking to challenge the international community in its efforts to solve the conflict in Kosove through peaceful ways. The Government of the Republic of Albania condemns energetically this new provoking act by Belgrade authorities and wants that these actions which spread tension and the conflict in the region be stopped. It also appeals to the international community, the U.N. Security Council, NATO and all other international organizations to denounce this new manifestation of the aggressive policy of the Serb-Yugoslav militarism against the territory of the Republic of Albania. The Albanian Government, also in cooperation with monitoring missions of OSCE, EU and other international organizations in the field, is ready to contribute, both with regard to this grave incident and in the future, to identify acts of such nature which are forming more and more that background of the aggressive policy of Belgrade. Once more the Albanian Government points out with force that instead of withdrawing the repressive military-police forces from Kosove, the Serb- Yugoslav authorities are making the opposite, they are intensifying the efforts for a spillover of the conflict in the Balkan region. The charge d'affaires of the FRY in Tirane, Stanislav Vukicevic was summoned late on Friday, in the Albanian Foreign Ministry and was handed over a note of strong protest with regard to the grave incident on the state border between the Republic of Albania and the FRY on October 8,1998. /dori/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[02] Albanian state and private sector employees to pay 500 lek per month for public order and defenceTIRANE, Oct 8 (ATA) By D.Koca:The Council of Ministers discussed on Thursday one draft law and approved 5 laws and 13 decisions. A package of laws was that consisting of the draft laws and the decisions for emergency measures to restore law and order in Albania. The most important element of the package was "The monthly tax in solidarity with public order and defence" which is applied for the first time in the fiscal system. This tax, which will be limited in time, will directly motivate police forces in the fight against crime through higher salaries for them and modernization of their equipment. The monthly tax for the state sector and private sector employees is 500 lek. According to Finance Ministry calculations, the state and private subjects, the small businesses and Albanian citizens, who will pay this tax, are estimated to be nearly 267 thousand. Application of this emergency measure creates the possibility that, through a very transparent mechanism, the people can not only contribute directly to fighting against crime and to restoring public order, but also may control how their money is used. A second package of laws and decisions, approved on Thursday meeting of the Council of Ministers, covered the vital problems of the citizens. The cabinet approved the platform on the use of a Greek credit for the housing program for the families who lost the money of their sold houses in the former fraudulent pyramid investment schemes. The first point of this decision considers the 5 billion drachmas credit by Greek government, provided at convininent terms, for the housing program in Albania. The other decisions of this package were those on the continuous work to rehabilitate some streets and the water supply system in Tirane, the construction of the new aqueduct in Vore, etc. /lola/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[03] Greece-Albania agreement on road and freight transport ratifiedTIRANE, Oct. 8 (ATA) - The competent commission of the Greek parliament ratified a cooperation agreement between Greece and Albania in the field of road and freight transport. The agreement was signed in Athens in December 1997 by the Greek Minister of Transport and Comunication, Anastasio Mandali, and his Albanian counterpart Gaqo Apostoli.Through a press release, the Greek embassy in Tirane told ATA that the agreement, based on the principle of transport liberalisation, forecasts among the others: - The removal of quantity limits in the bilateral transport permits and the transit passing between the two countries; - The sanctioning of special license formulary which make the checking easer; - The possession of compulsory technical control license for all transport vehicles; - The observation of the conditions and obligations foreseen by the International Convention ADR for the transport of periculous and liquid charges by all vehicles, in order to increase security on roads. /A.KE/A.A/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[04] Deaths among Kosovars because of cold and lack of medical assistancePRISHTINE, Oct.9 (ata) - An Albanian woman, a mother of six children, from Kijeva, died while she was trying to cross River Drini i Bardhe to settle in village Zajm in order to escape Serb terror, the Kosove Information Centre reports. Sources of the LDK branch in Kline say that Zemrije Bacaliu, 48, forced to leave her house to escape the Serb terror, died on her road from Mirusha e Bardhe to village Zajm while she was passing the River Drini i Bardhe. Her body got frozen from the cold water and some moments later she died, the above sources said.In the mean time, an infant of Halitaj family from Selaniku of Malisheva, accommodated in Ngucat, died for lack of medical aid. A LDK source in that village said that no assistance has reached that village in the past three months. About 5 000 people have settled in Ngucat, while 10 000 others are in the nearby villages. All are sheltered in houses but they are lacking clothes and have food only for 3-4 days, the same source said. The people sheltered in Ngucat are from 35 villages of Malisheve, Suhareke, Kline, Gllogoc, Lipjan and Shtimje. /pas/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[05] Serbs shelled Drenice village last nightPRISHTINE, Oct 9 (ATA):Serb military and police forces deployed in Likoc village, shelled last night some villages of Drenice, Kosova Information Center (KIC) reports. The targets of the assault were mainly the villages of Obri e Eperme, Tice and Prilluzhe of Skenderaj commune, KIC said adding that shoots were also listened in the distant villages. Till 15.30 Thursday there were occasional Serb attacks. The Albanian forces opened fire as well. /pas/lola/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[06] Merchants speculate with cooking oil; wholesales blocked in Librazhdlibrazhd, Oct.9 (ata) - By H Balliu: Specialists of the Food Inspectorate in Librazhd have reacted immediately to a protest of the consumers' association with regard to the quality of the imported cooking oil.Lili Marku, chief of food inspectorate in the Department of Agriculture of Librazhd district, told ATA that they have blocked all cooking oil wholesales mostly in the town of Prrenjas, until the traders present the results of the analysis of the samples of cooking oil, in Tirane. The blocking of the sales is made to avoid abuses with the vegetable oil, which, after putting some sort of colouring essence in it, the traders, in many cases, sell it for olive oil. In the name of the consumers' association, S Balla said that the trades are speculating with the cooking oil imported mainly from Bulgaria and Greece. /s.sh/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[07] UNICEF to assist Kosova children and women displaced in AlbaniaTIRANE, Oct.9 (ata) - By G Dilaveri: The main group to receive UNICEF aid from the people coming from Kosove to Albania are the children and women, the spokesman of UNICEF in Tirane told ATA.A clear proof of the multilateral tragedy continuing in Kosove is also the humanitarian situation of the minors coming from the warring territories. They travel for several days from their dwelling areas towards Vermosh (extreme north of Albania, a stiff mountain area) to go later to Shkoder, Tropoje or Kukes, with swollen feet, totally exhausted from hunger and thirst. UNICEF has settled in Tropoje, Has, Kukes (northeastern Albania) and has attached special importance to the integration of the Kosova children in the daily life. The spokesman said that to this end, in cooperation with a German non-governmental organization some entertaining and sport activities were sponsored during past summer. Such activities were held also in Tropoje by the "Terre des Hommes" organization. According to the UNICEF source, the health state of the children is not bad, but the predisposition of the local government in the regions were the displaced Kosovars are settled is not so satisfactory. One of the problems is the accommodation of big families which is difficult to be separated. For the current school year, UNICEF has guaranteed school instruments for the children. In this context, the workshop "Education for Peace" with the participation of 30 teachers from all over the country, and a phsyco- social training course will be held for the teachers who will deal with the children with traumatic experiences. To this end, they have enabled the arrival of two specialists from Bosnia-Herzegovina as well. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogato during a visit to Albania in the past month, expressed her deep concern for the situation in Kosove and for the fact that Serb violence, which caused the displacement of a great number of people from Kosove and the great problem of the refugees, is still going on. Consequently, mainly women and children keep leaving Kosove. /pas/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[08] Oil processing industry consumes more imported raw materialTIRANE, Oct 9 (ATA) By E.Xhajanka While the raw materials used for the production of oil in the country is limited, because of the small land areas planted with sunflower and the fall of the production of the olives, the cooking oil processing industry in Albania is using more imported raw materials. This industry situated mainly in the districts of Vlore, Fier, Elbasan, Lac, Lezhe, Delvine and Rrogozhine is working with a modern technology, because of the recent investments, reaching an approximate capacity of 10-12 tons oil per 24 hours.But the reconstructed cooking oil processing factories of Delvine, Rrogozhine and Lac have technique and financial problems. The co-owner of the cooking oil processing factory will experimentally plant 2000-3000 hectors of sunflowers in order to meet their needs to some extend. For this year the area planted with sunflower is 1200 hectors, but the sunflower production will not meet the capacities of these processing factories so in order to meet the consumer's needs it is expected to import not only cooking oil raw materials but the finished cooking oil also. The American government's aid for the cooking oil processing factories, which will reach Albania by the middle of November, is 6 300 tons crude oil. Within October specialists from Ministry of Food and Agriculture will control the cooking oil processing factories to evaluate the technology, reserves, tanking capacities and its quality. /lola/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[09] NATO intervention to defend Kosove people - RugovaPRISHTINE, Oct 9, (ata) - Behlul Jashari, ATA correspondent reports: President Rugova considered today NATO intervention "defence for the people of Kosova, based in the Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter". Speaking to journalists in Prishtine, Mr Rugova called for "more energetic steps" from the international community and first of all from the U.S., European Union, U.N. and NATO. He described the situation in Kosove as "very grave and dangerous" especially that in broad regions from Albania's border to the villages of Mitrovice, near the border with Serbia."Serb forces are not withdrawn from Kosove. They have been continuously reinforced by new forces and have taken new positions in Kosove," President Rugova said. Speaking about the humanitarian drama and the other serious consequences of the Serb attacks, Rugova said that thousands of people keep staying in the mountains, that some people have died of cold, while scores of Albanian bodies have been found murdered and massacred by Serb forces. Kosove President condemned the arrest and the sentences passed for hundreds of Albanians, along with the violence exerted to political and humanitarian activists. The best resolution is an independent Kosove, with all guarantees for local Serbs and an international protectorate as a transitory stage, said Rugova, stressing that "Kosove was a member of a state which does not exist any longer - of the former Yugoslav Federation, therefore, like all other former republics, it has the right for independence". "Since 1990, Kosove is an occupied state, while since March this year, it is under a constant aggression by Serbia. An independence for Kosove would restore the calm in the region of southeastern Europe," Rugova said. /pas/xh/lola/xh/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[10] Armoured vehicles control axes of roads in SouthGJIROKASTER, Oct. 9 (ATA) - By H. Cani: Armoured vehicles of the Ministry of Public Order began to control the axe of the national road Kakavije -Mallakster (Southern Albania) on Friday morning.Two armoured vehicles of the Ministry, which arrived from Tirana, will carry out continuous patrolling in this axe of the road. They will be also supported by the forces of the police commissariats to avoid the possible incidents in these axes, the chief of the Gjirokaster police commissariat, lieutenant colonel Edmond Stepa, told ATA. The insecurity in the national road and the masked persons who looted the people, have caused problems not only for the travelers, but also for the movement of merchants. Many companies and business units in the district of Gjirokaster have lowered or blocked their activity due to lack of security in these axes of roads. /pas/mt/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[11] Investigations on September 14 event extended in other districtsTIRANA, Oct. 9 (ATA) - By Th. Thanasi: The investigations into the events of September 14, 1998, along with the intensive procedures in Tirana, have already started in several districts of the country.The attorneys of the General Prosecutor's Office, in cooperation with those from several Albanian districts, started the investigations into the event of September 13-14 in the districts of Elbasan, Lezhe, Kavaje and Fier, sources from the Investigation Department close to the General Prosecutor's Office told ATA on Friday. According to these sources, facts for violent acts, carried out or attempted against the state institutions, have been collected in these districts. In any of these districts, the police commissariats have been attacked by arms, which coincide in time with the violence exerted on the state institutions in Tirana on September 14,1998, the same sources explained. According to the evidence provided by the collected documents, it is confirmed that these events have had a connection with that of Tirana and according to the same organization scheme, the above sources stated. The persons from districts are being identified. They, in collaboration with other people from the capital, exercised violence against the state institutions in Tirana. /dast/mt/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[12] Government programme intends continuation of reform in law and justiceTIRANA, Oct 9 (ATA)-By E.Koraqi, Continuation of reform in law and justice will be among the main goals of the new government, headed by Pandeli Majko.According to the government's programme, presented by Prime Minister Pandeli Majko on Wednesday, the relations of the Council of Ministers with the judiciary will be built and realised by respecting the principle of separation and mutual control of powers. The Council of Ministers will engage in meeting the material and financial conditions for the judiciary, training of judges and prosecutors, completion of juridical administration. Majko said that priority will also be given to the reexamination of the whole existing legislation, its further completion and compliance with the new constitutional principles and norms. Of priority for the new government will be the organic laws for the organisation and functioning of courts and the prosecutor's office, of High Council of Justice and the necessary improvements in other codes and laws. A Governmental Committee on Legal and Judicial reforms will be created to realise these goals. The activity of this committee and the reforms launched by it will be backed by the World Bank, the European Union, the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. /dast/lm/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[13] Volleys of gunshots on Telecom of TropojeBAJRAM CURRI, Oct. 9 (ATA) - By R. Hoxha: Identified persons shot by fire weapons the Telecom of Tropoje (Northern Albania) on Thursday at 21:00, the spokesman of the district police commissariat reported to ATA.The director of the Telecom affiliation in Tropoje, Ram Muja, told ATA that the specialists of this institution are working to eliminate the consequence, adding that the damages are huge. Meanwhile, the telephone numbers inside the town and with the district communes are out of work since Thursday evening. /dast/mt/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[14] National library, the largest book asset in AlbaniaTIRANA, Oct 9 (ATA)-By O. Kadaifciu, The National Library in Tirana, the library with the largest book asset in Albania, is the most frequented institution."Our fund is enriched daily," a library official told ATA. "Every publishing house is duty-bound to bring a copy in our library, based on a law on publications and approved by the Albanian parliament in 1992." The library fund also receives donations from various organisations in and outside the country as well as from various individuals who through their donations have brought rare values to its fund. The national library has relations with some 60 libraries of the world with which it regularly exchanges materials and periodicals. There are some 4500 readers of various social strata. The national library started its activity in 1922. It numbers some 980 000 volumes of books, collections of the periodical press and other materials. /dast/lm/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[15] Speaker Gjinushi meets German deputy SchilingTIRANA, Oct. 9 (ATA) - By A. Haxhiu: The chairman of the People's Assembly, Skender Gjinushi, met Friday with the German deputy, Schvarz Schiling, Chairman of the Commission of Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid in Bundestag. Gjinushi focused on the recent tragic developments in Kosova.Gjinushi reiterated the stand of the Albanian government, which supports the self-determination of the Albanian population in Kosova. He stressed that the international community has been called through several resolutions to alternate the political negotiations with the military force as soon as possible. "Now that Kosova has been turned into a second Bosnia, it is urgent the energetic intervention of the international community to pave the way for the political dialogue," he said. Speaker Gjinushi familiarized the German deputy with the engagement of the Albanian Parliament and Government to restore normality and stability in Albania. "Actually, the Parliament has started the examination of the draft constitution, a process which we would like to be joined by the Democratic Party," said Gjinushi, adding that it is exactly this party which has not accepted the results of the June 29 elections and has not recognized the legal institutions emerging from them. The German deputy on his side, after appreciating the mature stand of the Albanian Parliament during the armed uprising of September 13-14, as well as its continuous work, stressed that "The role of the Parliament in democracy is essential." /dast/mt/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[16] Supreme Court Chairmen of Central and Eastern Europe to meetTIRANA, Oct. 9 (ATA) - By E. Koraqi: The role of the Supreme Court in the administration of courts will be the object of the meeting that the Chairmen of Supreme Courts of Central and Eastern Europe will hold in a few days in Ukraine.The chairman of the Albanian Supreme Court, Avni Shehu, left Friday for Ukraine to attend the meeting, the spokesman of this Court told ATA. The aim of the meeting, which will be organized by the Council of Europe, is the analyzation of problems having to do with the functioning of courts and the role of the Supreme Court in the administration of the judiciary in Central and Eastern European countries. /dast/mt/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[17] Rama to present cultural projects in StrasbourgTIRANA, Oct 9 (ATA)-By K. Shehu,Minister of Culture Edi Rama will present the cultural projects of this ministry at the first meeting of the French board of Counselors, to be held between October 12 and 13 from the Council of Europe (CoE). The Ministry of Culture cabinet chief, Blendi Gonxhe, told ATA on Friday that cultural projects, requiring support from the CoE programmes will be presented at this meeting. Such projects, such as control on monuments of unical values by the Institute of Monuments, green spaces of all centres of archaeological heritage, study of northern areas of Albania from the point of view of religious monuments, organisation of seminars and trainings in the field of museums and other fields will be among the proposals of minister Rama at the meeting. /dast/lm/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[18] Strengthening of order, Government priorityTIRANA, Oct. 9 (ATA) - By E. Koraqi: The measures to be taken to strengthen the order and fight against the organized crime will be a priority of the new Government.For the emergency stage, the Government is engaged to fight the organized crime, to realize the detention of all persons involved into the events of the coup d'etat on September 14, to uncover and bring to justice the terrorism of any kind, to restructure the police forces and to approve as soon as possible the improved financial treatment of police forces. The Government will pay special attention to the interministerial cooperation of the Ministry of Order, Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of Finances, Justice Ministry in order to guarantee the efficasity in the process of investigation, uncovery and punishment of all crimes. Meanwhile, the collection of weapons remains still a priority of the government, which will be realized in close cooperation with the international bodies, mainly with the United Nations Organization. The Government Program envisages drafting of the project-law on the State Police, reviewing of the law on SHIK, preparation of the project-law on the ratification of Albania's adherance into Interpol, the ratification of the memorandum of cooperation with MAPE, and others. /dast/mt/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[19] Strengthening national defence, government's permanent dutyTIRANA, Oct 9 (ATA)-By E. Koraqi, Strengthening Albania's defence is one of the permanent tasks of the Majko Government.Protection of military establishments and depots, reconstruction of active units, administration of the army's asset, enhancement of leading responsibility of commandos and staffs, improvement of logistic and financial support, perfection of the legal basis for the construction and functioning of the armed forces are measures which are at the centre of the government's attention. The Majko government will especially try to promote military cooperation, in the framework of Euro-Atlantic Partnership, to prepare the necessary conditions for Albania's integration in NATO and the West European Union so that our Armed Forces meet their commitments in the joint programmes and activities with NATO and other partner states. /dast/lm/ Albanian Telegraphic Agency[20] Albanian Parliament continues discussion of draft constitutionTIRANA, Oct. 9 (ATA) - By Y. Pata: The Albanian Parliament continued even on Friday the discussions on the draft constitution of Albania, which was submitted in Parliament a few days ago by the Parliamentary Commission.During the sitting held before noon, the experts of the technical staff of the commission responded to the deputies' questions in regard to the content of the draft, while in the afternoon the deputies began the discussion in principle. Albania's PM Pandeli Majko also discussed in this session. He considered the approval of the fundamental law of the state as a historic moment for the Albanians. Majko invited the Democratic Party to cooperate in the constitutional process and to offer its suggestions regarding the content of the draft. He said that the ways of consensus with the opposition should be found, the same as this consensus was perfectly reached in the parliamentary constitution drafting commission. After the head of the government, different deputies also discussed, who hailed the arrival of the draft constitution to parliament, made remarks and offered suggestions for particular parts of this draft. The discussions on the draft constitution will continue in principle even on Saturday, while the discussion article by article of the draft will begin next week. The Parliament will approve the draft constitution as a whole over the last days of this month. /dast/mt/ 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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