nr. 81 / 21 shtator 2005

The 11^th of September 2001 and the troubled world of 2005

The destroying Apocalypse of the 11^th of September 2005, when the terrorists hijacked four planes striking them at the heart of the world, on the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon, even though four years passed, shortens the distance of time and fills the eyes.

Yes, it was a terrorist attack on culture, civilization, on America, the bastion of human freedom and democracy. Apart from the other attacks known until that dark day, performed by terrorist national organizations like IRA, ETA, etc., Al Qaeda meant a tragedy possibly of global extension, as it was openly proclaimed as a religious attack. The world was really shocked, even though the crazy Osama Bin Laden had a little number of supporters, kamikazes and some more spirituals.

Without any moral principle, Al Qaeda killed over three thousand innocent people, at the heart of the civilization and generousness of the world. Today, after four years, this world has changed a lot. Solidarity in the struggle against terrorism, fear, panic, great portions of pain, can be gathered bountifully from the huge swirl of trouble, which cannot be avoid the tragic memory even with the effects of time, as it is hurrying toward deeper and darker abysses of pain.

Entire rivers of tears and human blood have flown after the 11^th of September 2005, on the face of man and the world. How many hearts were dried, how fear there is in this world today, and it is not much when you think that man lives on it about seventy years!

Nevertheless, in front of the confusion of terrorism, the moral gets pale and you think is worth to beware from getting near to anything with terror substance. There is a substance of terror even in the ideology, as it was said by George Bush and Tony Blair. Not only that. The terror got what it had to. On October 7, 2001, took place the first attack on Afghanistan. A few days later, there was a military ground intervention concentrated on the mountains of Tora-Bora, where it probably was hiding Bin Laden. This made the little Albania take huge steps in an antiterrorist operation. Alike in other countries, even in Albania there was a great distance between the government decisions on supporting the battle of the antiterrorist coalition and the anti-Americans, in substance. There were even Albanians amongst those who lost their lives in the Twin Towers, yet most of the Albanians were not concentrated on this. There were over three thousand of other lives and the entire world in danger of other possible attacks. The first seventy Albanian commandos joining the American and British coalition lifted the Albanian flag, sowing a “seed” of peace for the first time in our history, which was the way it was.

The middle of March 2003 marked the attack on Iraq, with the goal to pull down Saddam Hussein and finding the nuclear weapons, which were never found, yet Saddam was lastly caught. Terrorists got mad. There were slaughters, kidnaps, even of women, killing them directly while the entire world saw them through their cameras. Beyond these sequences of Arabic of Bosnia, Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, there were shown many tapes of horrors, according to reserved sources of our newspaper. The way of civil murders is another act lacking of moral of Al Qaeda. It didn’t spare anyone, placing the world in another front, that against the inspiration of terrorism, which is the most inhuman method ever known, beyond the religious lessons.

Sokol Pepushaj

Many people disappeared in Mitrovica

Kosovo has become a country where many people are missing since a long time. One of the cities mostly affected by this phenomenon is that of Mitrovica, well-known for these problems. One of the victims is Ardjan Malocaj, born on February 20, 1985, from Stariterg of Mitrovica. In order to make sensible the opinion, our journal tried to get information from the neighbors, relatives and friends of Ardjan. According to them, Ardjan Malocaj left Stariterg in March 2002. He was in serious danger and was wanted to be killed and still today. This is because the KLA considered him a spy of Serbs, while these last ones doubted he gave information for the KLA. He was in the midst of two dangers, especially for the fact he was a Catholic, which are very few in Kosovo, that’s why the terrorists had him on their target. During the conflict, Ardjan’s father worked as a mechanic and his refusal to be involved in the conflict caused doubts on both pairs: the KLA and Serbs. Both called him a spy, while the KLA had condemned him. Since that time, his family, his father, mother and his sister disappeared. Perhaps they’ve been executed, while as far as Ardjan is concerned, the peasants there, who gave us his picture but didn’t want their names mentioned, told us he might be somewhere abroad. The Serbs in Stariterg had burned up even the documents and this family existed only in the memory of the countrymen.

The life of many families in Kosovo is a very large folder of investigation and the international presence will have to do a hard work to find out the disappeared, that none knows either they’re dead or if they live abroad, because unsafe in their country.

Albert Vataj

What will be the end?!

For many years the organized crime is being a great problem for the Albanian society. It is known now that certain segments of the Police of the State are collaborating with criminals or criminal groups, in order to get financial profits through menaces made to different citizens.

This is something that started since in 2003, and still today there’s no idea how it’s going to end. The family Velia, at the time, was menaced by people not yet identified, who wanted large amounts of money from this family. Criminal groups go so far as to kidnap Eduard Velia, the only son of the family Velia, after many threats. This tragic event took place on September 10, 2003. It wasn’t over yet. The family Velia has serious problems, and not only with the criminal groups, especially after their report to the police for the menaces and kidnapping. This was because of the simple fact that the report of Eduard Velia affected directly the police. His life gets unbearable and his life was menaced at any time. Because of this, he had to live hiding in a city in South Albania. Yet, even there he wasn’t safe, so he leaves his country, to go somewhere far from Albania, looking for a more quiet life, far from death threats. On request from the father of Eduard Velia, asking for our help, we want to appeal to the Government for help. Even with the rotation occurred in Albania after the 3^rd of July 2005, he didn’t find help. All the institutions responsible for such problems shut the doors to him. The collaboration of the organized crime with the structures of the Police of the State is still a great problem for Albania. The problem of “state capture” is a problem made evident even by the international forces.

Vasel Gilaj