BIOGRAPHY OF NEW ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TIRANA 001976


STATE ALSO FOR EUR/SCE - LUNDBERG AND DRL - BIGUS

USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE

ROME ALSO FOR EMBASSY VATICAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/08/97
TAGS: PGOV PINR AL
SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHY OF NEW ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER
FATOS NANO

(U) CLASSIFIED BY AMB. M. R. LINO FOR REASONS
1.5. (B) AND (D).

BIOGRAPHIC MATERIAL
--------------


1. (U) PERSONAL DATA: FATOS NANO WAS BORN IN
TIRANA ON SEPTEMBER 16, 1952. HE IS MARRIED TO
HIS HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART, AND THEY HAVE TWO
ALMOST-GROWN CHILDREN, A BOY AND A GIRL. THE BOY,
17 OR 18, IS STUDYING AT AN AMERICAN COLLEGE IN
THESSELONNKI, GREECE. THE GIRL, 16 OR 17, IS
STUDYING IN LYON, FRANCE.


2. (U) EDUCATION: NANO GRADUATED FROM THE
ECONOMICS FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TIRANA IN
1975, WITH A SPECIALIZATION IN POLITICAL ECONOMY.


3. (U) PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

-- FROM 1975-1978, NANO WORKED IN THE MANAGEMENT
OF THE METALLURGICAL MILLS IN ELBASAN.

-- FROM 1978-1981, HE WORKED AS A RESEARCHER IN
WORLD ECONOMY IN THE INSTITUTE OF MARXISM-LENINISM
IN TIRANA.

-- FROM 1981-1984, HE WORKED AS AN ECONOMIST IN
THE PRISKA AGRICULTURAL FARM IN TIRANA.

-- FROM 1984-1990, HE WORKED AS A RESEARCHER ON
SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS AND ON REFORMS OF MARKET
ECONOMIES IN EAST BLOC COUNTRIES, AGAIN IN THE
MARXIST-LENINIST INSTITUTE IN TIRANA.

-- CONCURRENTLY, FROM 1978-1990, HE ALSO TAUGHT
AND LECTURED IN SEVERAL FACULTIES OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF TIRANA.


4. (U) POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: IN DECEMBER OF
1990, NANO WAS APPOINTED SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS. IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY OF
1991, HE CARRIED OUT THE FUNCTION OF DEPUTY PRIME
MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC REFORM, UNDER PRESIDENT ALIA
AND PRIME MINISTER CARCANI. FROM MARCH TO MAY OF
1991, HE WAS APPOINTED PRIME MINISTER OF THE
CARETAKER GOVERNMENT THAT PREPARED THE FIRST
MULTI-PARTY ELECTIONS (MARCH 31, 1991) INITIATING
THE TRANSITION TO A DEMOCRATIC SYSETM.


5. (U) FROM MAY TO JUNE OF 1991, HE WAS
GIVEN A SECOND MANDATE AS PRIME MINISTER.
HE WAS ELECTED A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FROM 1991-
1992 AND AGAIN IN 1992, ALTHOUGH HIS SECOND TERM
IN PARLIAMENT WAS INTERRUPTED. HE WAS ARRESTED
ON CHARGES OF CORRUPTION ON JULY 30, 1993 AND
SENTENCED IN 1994 TO 12 YEARS IN PRISON IN A TRIAL
MARRED BY FLAGRANT VIOLATIONS OF LEGAL PROCEDURES.
HE WAS DECLARED A POLITICAL PRISONER BY
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, HELSINKI HUMAN RIGHTS
WATCH, THE INTERPARLIAMENTARY UNION, AND OTHER
GROUPS. HE WAS RELEASED FROM PRISON MARCH 14,
1997 IN THE GENERAL UPHEAVAL AND CRISIS, AND
SHORTLY THEREAFTER OFFICIALLY PARDONED BY
PRESIDENT BERISHA.


6. (U) NANO WAS ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF THE
SOCIALIST PARTY IN THE FOUNDING CONGRESS OF THIS
PARTY ON JUNE 12, 1991, AND WAS RECONFIRMED IN
THIS POST IN THE SECOND CONGRESS OF THE PARTY IN
AUGUST, 1996, WHILE HE WAS STILL IN PRISON.


7. (U) OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES: NANO HAS
PUBLISHED A NUMBER OF COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON
MARKET ECONOMIES, ON THE REFORMS IN EAST BLOC
COUNTRIES, AND ON THE FUNCTIONING OF EUROPEAN
MARKETS. HE HAS ALSO PUBLISHED ARTICLES AND
RESEARCH STUDIES HE PRESENTED TO SCIENTIFIC
CONFERENCES, BOTH IN ALBANIA AND ABROAD. NANO
RECEIVED THE THIRD MOST IMPORTANT PRIZE IN THE
COUNTRY FOR A STUDY ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
FOR COUNTRIES IN TRANSITION.


8. (U) LANGUAGES: NANO SPEAKS FLUENT ITALIAN
AND GOOD ENGLISH. HE ALSO SPEAKS RUSSIAN, SERBO-
CROATIAN, SPANISH, AND SOME GREEK.

COMMENTARY
--------------


9. (C) FATOS NANO WAS BORN INTO A FAMILY THAT
WAS PART OF THE ELITE OF THE COMMUNIST REGIME.
HIS FATHER WAS THE DIRECTOR OF STATE RADIO AND
TELEVISION FOR MANY YEARS. NANO HIMSELF GRADUATED FROM
"SAMI FRASHERI" HIGH SCHOOL IN TIRANA, RESERVED
FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE NOMENKLATURA. HE LEARNED
FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND TO PLAY THE GUITAR. IN HIS
SECOND YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL, HE FOUNDED A ROCK
GROUP (HE WAS THE LEAD SINGER) THAT PLAYED THE
MUSIC OF THE BEATLES, STRICTLY FORBIDDEN TO THE
GENERAL PUBLIC AT THE TIME.


10. (C) ACCORDING TO SOME REPORTS, WHEN NANO WAS
WORKING IN THE MARXIST-LENINIST INSTITUTE, HE WAS
SINGLED OUT BY HOXHA'S WIFE, WHO HEADED THE
INSTITUTE, FOR SPECIAL FAVOR. SHE REPORTEDLY
FOLLOWED HIS CAREER AND HELPED HIM AT STRATEGIC
POINTS TO MOVE FROM JOB TO JOB.


11. (C) HE WAS APPOINTED DEPUTY PM IN EARLY
1991, AND AFTER THE FALL OF THE CARCANI GOVERNMENT
BECAME PM. AFTER FOUR WEEKS IN THIS POST, HE HAD
TO PREPARE THE ELECTIONS OF MARCH 31. HE RAN AND
WON AS A CANDIDATE OF THE PARTY OF LABOR IN TIRANA
IN THE RUN-OFF ROUND OF THIS ELECTION. IN THE NEW
GOVERNMENT HE WAS AGAIN APPOINTED PM. THE NEW
JOB, HOWEVER, DID NOT LAST LONGER THAN THE FIRST.
ONE WEEK AFTER HIS INSTALLATION, THE GENERAL
STRIKE ORGANIZED BY THE INDEPENDENT UNIONS BEGAN
AND HE RESIGNED A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER. YLLI
BUFI TOOK OVER AS PRIME MINISTER TO HEAD AN
EQUALLY SHORT-LIVED GOVERNMENT.


12. (C) IN THE TENTH CONGRESS OF THE LABOR
PARTY, IN JUNE, 1991, HE WON THE EMPTY SEAT OF THE
CHAIRMAN OF THE PARTY. THE WRITER DRITERO AGOLLI
WAS HIS MAIN RIVAL IN THAT CONTEST. IN THE SAME
CONGRESS, THE PARTY OF LABOR'S NAME WAS CHANGED TO
THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF ALBANIA.


13. (C) FOR THE ELECTIONS OF MARCH, 1992, THE
SOCIALIST PARTY WAS PREPARED TO FACE A MAJOR
DEFEAT. IT IS DURING THIS TIME THAT NANO WAS
ACCUSED OF COOKING UP A DEAL WITH BERISHA FOR
SHIFTING POWER TO THE RIGHT, THAT WAS ALLEGEDLY
DISCUSSED IN TRIESTE, ITALY, AT A CONFERENCE BOTH
ATTENDED, IN THE PRESENCE OF MENTOR COKU. IN THE
THOSE ELECTIONS, NANO WON AS A CANDIDATE IN KUCOVA.
HIS RIVAL FOR THAT SEAT WAS PERIKLI TETA, NOW STATE
SECRETARY IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE IN NANO'S
GOVERNMENT.


14. (C) IN HIS LAST SPEECH TO PARLIAMENT BEFORE
HIS ARREST, NANO ACCUSED FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR
WILLIAM RYERSON, THEN DCM CHRIS HILL, AND THE CIA
FOR HAVING PLOTTED WITH BERISHA TO SET UP HIS
PHONEY TRIAL. IN THE SAME SPEECH, NANO ACCUSED
BERISHA OF TURNING ALBANIA INTO AN AMERICAN-RUN
BANANA REPUBLIC.


15. (C) IN 1996, THERE WERE RUMORS HIS DAUGHTER
WAS TAKING DRUGS WHILE HE WAS IN PRISON AND THAT
HIS TEENAGE SON HAD GOTTEN OUT OF HIS MOTHER'S
CONTROL, BECOMING REBELLIOUS AND UNRULY. WITH
BOTH OF HIS CHILDREN CURRENTLY STUDYING OUTSIDE OF
ALBANIA, WHATEVER THE TRUTH OF THE RUMORS, THEY
SEEM TO BE DOING WELL NOW AND RECENTLY JOINED
THEIR PARENTS AT A DAY A DURRES BEACH WHERE
FOREIGNERS WERE PRESENT.


16. (C) NANO IS AN INTENSE, FOCUSSED INDIVIDUAL
WHO, AT ABOUT 5' 6" IS AVERAGE HEIGHT FOR AN
ALBANIAN MALE. FORMERLY SLIM AND CLEANSHAVEN, HE
EMERGED FROM PRISON WITH A SUBSTANTIAL WEIGHT GAIN
AND A BEARD. MANY OLD ACQUAINTANCES SAID THEY DID
NOT RECOGNIZE HIM AFTER HIS RELEASE. A HEAVY
SMOKER, A SOCIAL ANIMAL WHO ENJOYS LATE-NIGHT
SCHMOOZING WITH HIS INNER CIRCLE OF POLITICAL
FRIENDS, NANO IS SERIOUS EVEN WHEN HE IS JOKING.


17. (C) HIS CLOSEST FRIEND WHO STUCK WITH HIM
THROUGH THE WORST TIMES, WHEN HE WAS IN PRISON, IS
BASHKIM ZENELI. ZENELI, WHO BESIDES NANO'S WIFE
HAS BEEN HIS MOST INTIMATE CONFIDANT, HAS NOT BEEN
GIVEN A PRESTIGIOUS HIGH-PROFILE POSITION.
RATHER, AS MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AND DEPUTY HEAD OF
THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
HE KEEPS A FAIRLY LOW PROFILE.


18. (C) NANO'S WIFE VISITED HIM ONCE A WEEK IN
TEPELENA PRISON. THEY ARE VERY EVIDENTLY DEVOTED
TO ONE ANOTHER AND WHILE SHE IS NOT AS PROFICIENT
IN LANGUAGES AND DOES NOT SPEAK MUCH WHEN THEY ARE
IN PUBLIC OR IN THE PRESENCE OF FOREIGNERS, IT
SEEMS CLEAR THAT NANO HOLDS HER OPINION IN HIGH
REGARD.


LINO