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Albanian Times, April 30, 1996
CONTENTS
[01] Military Experts Arrive in Tirana to Review Training Details
[02] Albanian, Greek Officials Discuss Border Projects
[03] Registration of Candidates Ends
[04] Serbia Bars Return of Ethnic Albanians
[05] Bomb Kills Albanian Child in Kosova
[06] Socialists Vow to Free Jailed Leader
[07] Balkan Telecom Ministers Agree to Pool Resources
[08] Kosova Leader Warns of Escalation
[09] Illegal Albanians Stopped by Italian Police
[01] Military Experts Arrive in Tirana to Review Training Details
TIRANA, April 29 - Nato experts arrived in Tirana Monday to discuss with
local officials on a joint military training planned to be held soon in
central Albania. The experts from Nato's southern flank will join military
officials from the United States, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Greece,
Macedonia and Slovenia in a conference that will review the details of the
multinational training, code named Peaceful Eagle 96, which is part of the
Partnership For Peace Program. Experts are visiting the site of the
training at Biza in the Martanesh region. The conference will end on May 3.
(Albanian Times)
[02] Albanian, Greek Officials Discuss Border Projects
TIRANA, April 29 - Albanian and Greek officials have held discussions on
border projects funded by the European Union. The talks held in Ioannina
between foreign and economic ministry experts focused on two major road
projects benefitting both countries and the opening of three checkpoints on
their common border. The experts also discussed issues regarding specific
ways to use the E-U provided funds. (Albanian Times)
[03] Registration of Candidates Ends
The registration of candidates for the May 26 national elections has
officially ended, Radio Tirana said. Dozens of candidates from the
opposition parties were barred from registering by a commission set up to
ensure that the would-be legislators have not served in the communist
nomenclatura or haven't been informers of secret police under the communist
regime. The nations highest court has reversed several of the commission's
decisions, allowing candidates from the Socialist opposition to compete in
the upcoming elections. Political parties are inaugurating their campaigns
ib various cities. (Albanian Times)
[04] Serbia Bars Return of Ethnic Albanians
BELGRADE, April 29 - Human rights workers accused Serbia on Monday of
barring a group of ethnic Albanians from returning to the country even
though they posessed legal passports. The Helsinki community for human
rights in Serbia issued a protest to Belgrade authorities, charging the
government was preventing the legal entry of ethnic Albanians holding
Yugoslav passports. ``They simply want to enter their own country for
whatever reason. One wanted to attend a wedding,'' an official from the
Helsinki group, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. ``These are just
ordinary people who have nothing to do with any political party.'' The
protest coincided with rising tensions in Kosova between the restive
Albanian majority and the ruling Serbian minority. The independent Beta
news agency reported on Monday that 11 Albanians had flown from Western
Europe into rump Yugoslavia -- Serbia and Montenegro -- but were refused
legal entry. The group had flown first to Prishtina, but were sent to
Belgrade airport where they were told they could not legally enter Serbia,
Beta said. (Albanian Times/Reuter)
[05] Bomb Kills Albanian Child in Kosova
BELGRADE, April 28 - One child was killed and three others wounded when an
explosive device detonated in a village in the southern Yugoslavia province
of Kosova, the opposition Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) said Sunday.
The LDK and other local sources said unidentified attackers tossed a
package from a car Saturday evening as they drove past the Albanian boys
playing in the village of Velika Reka, 12 miles from the provincial center
Pristina. An LDK spokesman said the bomb exploded as the youngsters, all
aged between nine and 12, went to investigate the device. American and
British diplomats have visited the province in the past week to investigate
a situation they say is potentially the most explosive unresolved ethnic
conflict in the Balkans. (Albanian Times/Reuters)
[06] Socialists Vow to Free Jailed Leader
TIRANA, April 28 - Albania's opposition Socialists said on Sunday they
would free their jailed leader Fatos Nano if they won general elections in
May. ``If we win, the future parliament is entitled to give amnesty to Nano
and of course a legal process should declare him innocent,'' Socialist
deputy leader Servet Pellumbi said. Nano, 43, was jailed for 12 years in
1994 for embezzlement in an Italian aid scandal during his short stint as
prime minister in the country's last communist government in 1991. Senior
Socialist Party members have accused President Sali Berisha of perverting
justice to keep Nano in jail during the country's general elections on May
26. (Albanian Times/Reuters)
[07] Balkan Telecom Ministers Agree to Pool Resources
SOFIA, April 26 - Posts and telecommunications ministers from most Balkan
and neighbouring countries agreed on Friday to pool resources to provide
better services. However the failure of Turkey, Macedonia and Albania to
sign the final telecommunications document cast a shadow over what was
otherwise hailed as an important example of growing regional cooperation.
Turkey objected to the participation of Cyprus in the new organisation,
Macedonia disagreed with the name allotted to it -- Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia -- and said it would join the pool later. Bulgarian
officials said the Albanians did not attend the signing ceremony but added
they did not know why. One of the aims of the telecom pool, which will
unite the region's operators, is the introduction of lower tariffs between
the Balkan countries. Launching a satellite to serve countries in the
region is another project of the pool, Danov said. (Albanian Times)
[08] Kosova Leader Warns of Escalation
TIRANA, April 26 - A Kosova Albanian leader accused Belgrade of stirring up
ethnic tension in the province. Bujar Bukoshi, ``prime minister'' of the
self-proclaimed Republic of Kosova, condemned the shooting incidents in the
region which left five people dead and five wounded. ``The incidents are
the culmination of years of repression and maltreatment by Serbia's
criminal regime and they show the current explosive situation might very
easily escalate further,'' he said, according to Albania's ATA news agency.
(Albanian Times)
[09] Illegal Albanians Stopped by Italian Police
Brindisi, April 26 - Police stopped ten cars carrying 44 Albanians near the
south Italian city of Brindisi. The Albanians had landed illegally on the
coast near Casalabate. Twelve people were arrested on suspicion of
belonging to an organisation dealing in the traffic of illegal immigrants.
(Albanian Times/AGI)
The material was reprinted with permission of AlbAmerica Trade & Consulting
International. For more information on ATCI and the Albanian Times, please
Copyright (c) ATCI, 1996
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