ATA News from Albania, 96-08-15

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

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

CONTENTS

[01] URGENT MEASURES SHOULD BE TAKEN IN KOSOVO - Elisabeth Rehn

[02] SP REFUSES TO TAKE PART IN PERMANENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION

[03] STATEMENT OF SPOKESMAN OF COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

[04] DAP IS AGAINST CREATION OF PERMANENT CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION

[05] PRESS REVIEW

[06] NATO "Partnership" exercise parades in U.S. By Owen Good

[07] Serb opposition leader resigns after standoff

[08] OPENING CEREMONY FOR EXERCISE IN CAMP LEJEUNE HELD

[09] 5.5 MILLION FALSE LABELS IN ALBANIA

[10] MEETINGS OF INTERIOR MINISTER OF ALBANIA

[11] CAPITAL INHABITANTS BUY 50 PER CENT LESS MEAT THAN BEFORE JUNE DUE TO APHTHOUS FEVER

[01] URGENT MEASURES SHOULD BE TAKEN IN KOSOVO - Elisabeth Rehn

Rehn said that some urgent measures should be taken in Kosova, it is like a powder keg which may explode in the future.

"Almost every day, I get reports for violation of human rights in different areas, especially in Croatia, in Herceg-Bosna, Serbia and first of all in Kosova. She criticized the Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and other leaders of former Yugoslavia who often are not engaged at all in the defence of human rights. aca/eva/fh/Z/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[02] SP REFUSES TO TAKE PART IN PERMANENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION

This was announced after the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, decreed the commission. The SP rejects the composition of the commission and the ratio this commission is built on.

"The setting up of this commission itself, its decree by the president, seems at first sight as if it establishes correct ratios between the government coalition and the opposition. In fact these ratios are fictive", the SP deputy chairman, Servet Pellumbi, says.

The President of the Republic decreed on August 13 the composition of the Central Electoral Commission, in which four out of the seven seats of the opposition belong to the SP.

Regarding the composition of the commission, the President also held a meeting with the parties participating in the local government, a meeting which was boycotted by the opposition.

The creation of the Permanent Electoral Commission is one of the CE recommendations.

"We have asked that the party round table be effective, without prejudice". Pellumbi says. Meanwhile the SP has declared that it will not take part in the round table called by the DP on August 16.

The SP, seeing the ratios and composition of the commission, refuses to take part because according to Pellumbi "The Commission Presidency has been appointed by the government".

He says that the "Commission should have a party composition, but the chairman should be appointed by the commission itself and he should have no right to vote".

Based on the law on elections, it is the Government which prepares the conditions for holding the elections and which is responsible for their fair development.

"If the SP claims that the four points have not been met, one cannot think that all the opposition demands will be accepted, because then, we should accept that the ruling party, parliament and government, the whole political spectrum, will act under the dictate of the opposition," the DP deputy chairman, Ali Spahija, said in an interview with ATA on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Albanian state authorities have assured that the local government elections will be completely free and fair. jz/lm/Z/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[03] STATEMENT OF SPOKESMAN OF COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Both articles said that the "Albanian government has offered Fischer concessions for the copper's mines."

The Albanian government and its institutions have made no talks or agreement for concessions in the copper industry. The only contract since today, the spokesman adds, is one that the copper industry has with the German government for a study in this field with German government granted funds for the Munella mining area. The study is the result of an agreement of 1989 which was carried out during 1994-1995 and continues today.

After saying that the Cooper Corporate has now only a joint venture with two Italian firms which has not yet started working, the spokesman clarifies that no other treaty has been realised.

"These mean slanders against foreign personalities, friends of the democratic Albania, are groundless, ill willed and show the political and civil irresponsibility of some pseudo politicians. ake/eva/fh/Z/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[04] DAP IS AGAINST CREATION OF PERMANENT CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION

"The President has violated the law by decreeing the CEC" the DAP Secretary Arben Imami said.

It is, according the main Constitutional provisions, the right of the President of the Republic to decree the creation of the CEC.

"The CEC creation is closing doors to the participation of the opposition in the upcoming local elections" said the DAP President Neritan Ceka.

The DAP has declared its boycott for the local elections right at the moment the President of the Republic held the first meeting with the Albanian political parties on July 18.

The DAP did not participate in the first local elections in 1992. The round table of political parties decided the CEC's composition will be based on the ratio of the results the political parties had in the first local elections. jz/fh/Z/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[05] PRESS REVIEW

The paper also carries a pronouncement of the DP organisational secretar , Ylli Vejsiu, entitled:"Boycott, expression of the fatality of the socialist chiefs".

Rilindja Demokratike reports that the deputy chairman of the Socialist Party (SP) of Pogradec and chairman of the district Euro-socialist Youth Forum presents his resignation from all the SP functions. He also declared in the SP district conference that "The SP reformation should begin with its elite".

Zeri i Popullit carries the article: "Interior Minister Halit Shamata, facing dismissal or resignation" and the editorial "The allies of the crime".

The paper also carries the articles:"Euro-socialists respect and pay homage to the sacrifices of freedom fighters" and "The file that burns".

Poli i Qendres carries the article:"We should first dismantle the dictatorship and then speak of elections" and "Europe put to the test".

Lajmi i Dites reports on the "Cooperative Osprey '96" exercise, in which take part Albanian troops.

Rilindja also covers the beginning of this military exercise held in North Caroline by the NATO forces and the Partnership for Peace member countries.

The paper also carries an interview with the Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister, Besnik Gjongecaj.

Albania carries the editorial :"Fatos Nano ordered the fleeing of the SP former secretary general, Gramoz Ruci, and the editorial:"Forums boycott SP".

Tribuna carries the editorial :"The red front Parties make the first step towards the local elections boycott" and the article :"Exercise aiming at practising peacekeeping acts".

Dita Informacion carries the article:"Dokle, SP chairman for Tirana and secretary general ?". It also carries the article "Nation and religion".

Under the title:"All have equal chances in the SP", Koha Jone carries an interview with SP chairman Fatos Nano, exclusively granted to this paper. The paper also carries reactions of political party leaders after the appointment of the electoral commission by the president.

Gazeta Shqiptare carries the article:The Democratic Alliance Party refuses the DP round table". The paper also carries the article entitled:"The killing of policemen sparks polemics on criminality". jz/lm/Z/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[06] NATO "Partnership" exercise parades in U.S. By Owen Good

The troops opened the first of its peacekeeping and humanitarian rescue exercise, "Cooperative Osprey 96," with a parade and pageantry at a U.S. Marine Corps base.

Three members of NATO -- the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands -- are participating, along with 23 former Warsaw Pact nations including Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania.

Deputy Secretary of Defence John White likened the event involving some 1,300 troops from 16 countries to the Olympic games which recently took place in Atlanta.

"Here today we have another group of dedicated and courageous individuals. Like the Olympians, you have come with pride and with hopes for your nations. You too are bringing the world closer together, enhancing international peace and cooperation," White said.

"Just as the Olympians have trained hard, you have trained hard to world-class standards in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations. These are the kinds of military operations we can expect to see in the forseeable future," White said.

The U.S. Marine Corp's Silent Drill Platoon performed during the opening ceremonies as a platoon from each nation marched in among light armoured vehicles and appeared with a variety of helicopters such as the CH- 46E and AH-1 Cobra. After remarks made by White, the troops demonstrated a tactical departure with Cobras hovering while some of the troops flew away aboard CH46Es.

Only U.S. aircraft and naval ships were used.

During the rest of the exercise, which ends on Aug. 30, the soldiers are due to practice rescue missions for downed pilots, convoy operations and military operations in urban terrain.

Speaking through an interpreter, Lt. Col. Perikli Qorri of the Albanian army, who has been in the military 21 years, said the parade of his men on U.S. soil "was just a prohibited dream, but now in democracies all our dreams are coming true."

Marine Gen. John Sheehan, the commander of the U.S. Atlantic Command, said the countries were working together toward a sense of European security and identity that creates common bonds of understanding.

"It creates cooperation among states, which means they don't go to war with each other," he said.

Sheehan, as well as White, had once been stationed at Camp Lejeune where they practiced to deploy to go to war against the Soviet Union.

"Now (White's) here as deputy secretary of defence watching these nations participating in a parade. If that's not change, you've missed the front lines," Sheehan said.

REUTER

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[07] Serb opposition leader resigns after standoff

Rade Pavlovic, leader of the Bosnian Serb Socialist Party and director of the Teslic distillery, offered his resignation after meeting Bosnian Serb Interior Minister Dragan Kijac on Wednesday, the Belgrade-based agency Beta said.

Kijac "conveyed to Pavlovic the police's determination to implement the Republika Srpska government decision on his replacement and to do so with the use of force," it said.

The report could not be immediately confirmed but sources in Banja Luka told Reuters Pavlovic was standing down to avert bloodshed.

Serb police met automatic weapons fire when they arrived at Pavlovic's Destilacija factory on Sunday to arrest him.

They set up five checkpoints on roads around Teslic to prevent supporters of Pavlovic and any weapons from coming into the town.

The SDS, which rules in the 49 percent of Bosnia under Serb control, has freely used its power over the police, media and economy to silence rivals in the run-up to Bosnian elections on September 14.

The Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE), which is supervising the election, has encouraged the Socialist Party to take an active opposition role in the Bosnian Serb republic.

International mediators and the neighbouring Serbian Socialist Party have also backed the Socialists as an alternative to diehard SDS separatists who have been obstructing the Dayton peace agreement.

But the Bosnian Serb opposition has frequently complained that SDS was terrorising its rivals.

REUTER

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[08] OPENING CEREMONY FOR EXERCISE IN CAMP LEJEUNE HELD

The troops started their rescue humanitarian and peacekeeping exercises with a parade and a performance in one of the bases of the U.S. Marine Troops.

Attending the ceremony also were the children of the militaries, a relation which symbolizes the peace safeguarding.

The NATO member countries, the U.S., Canada and Holland are taking part in Cooperative Osprey 96 exercise together with formwer members of the Warsaw Treaty including Albania, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.

Present in the main tribune were senior representatives of the NATO member and partner countries among whom the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defence John White and the Albanian Minister of Defence Safet Zhulali.

The message of Mr White conveyed the greetings of President Clinton and U.S. Defence Secretary for the cooperation of the peoples in the name of peace.

White said that the operations to be conducted in Camp Lejeune these days are the same as those carried out in Bosnia.

The Silent Exercise unit of the U.S. Marine Troops paraded in the opening ceremony whereas a unit from each participating country marched in light armoured vehicles and by helicopters such as CH-46 and AH - 1 Cobra. After the greeting by White, the troops left by CH46E helicopters.

At the end of the opening ceremony Albanian Minister Zhulali met with Albanian troops participating in a commanded exercise by noncommissioned colonel Perikli Qorri. kei/xh/k

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[09] 5.5 MILLION FALSE LABELS IN ALBANIA

The greatest amount of the false labels was noticed in the district of Kruja, and was estimated art 1.5 million lek.

The control found 44 serious administrative abuses by food firms throughout the country. Irregularities were noticed in the set amounts of refreshments and the use of false labels.

About 40 tons of cooking oil has been blocked in the capital and this product will be traded after false labels will be corrected.

Last month too, the control took out of marketing 400 tons of food products, worth 4.9 million lek, because they were below the standards. eva/xh/k

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[10] MEETINGS OF INTERIOR MINISTER OF ALBANIA

During the meeting they treated various issues about the present situation in the Republic of Kosova.

The same day Mr Shamata had a meeting with the Ambassador of Romania and dean of the diplomatic corps in Albania George Miku.

The two officials appreciated the cooperation between the two interior ministries and voiced their readiness for a further consolidation of cooperation between the two parties. kei/xh/k

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[11] CAPITAL INHABITANTS BUY 50 PER CENT LESS MEAT THAN BEFORE JUNE DUE TO APHTHOUS FEVER

Specialists of veterinary office in the Tirana municipality declare that the small cattle disease has lowered the amount of fresh and processed meat trading.

Meat sellers say that "papers cause panic among the people and now we have no work to do."

Specialists say that the centre of the non-mortal disease is Korca, Southeastern Albania, is limited and 600 sick animals have been buried, while others have been vaccinated twice so far."

Specialists have inspected 17 communes of Tirana district. Other dangerous diseases in animals have not been neglected as well.

Recent data prove that the situation in the prefecture of Korca is stabilized as a result of the efficient technical-organization measures adopted. kei/xh/k

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

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