Macedonia may change constitution

Robertson says the rebels are "thugs"

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Macedonia's prime minister says his government will meet key ethnic Albanian demands in order to end an insurgency that has pushed the country towards all-out war.

Ljubco Georgievski said his government could rewrite the constitution to upgrade the position of the ethnic Albanians, who make up about one third of the population.

"We have an obligation toward the international community to create a Macedonia that will suit the (ethnic) Albanians," Georgievski was quoted as saying on state television.

"That is our only solution at the moment. That is an agenda for peace."

In a move certain to anger the majority Slavs, Georgievski also said that the Macedonian Orthodox Church could be "wiped out" of the constitution.

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"Macedonia has been in a war for three months now," Georgievski said.

"Who wants to go on waging this war?"

The Macedonian policy change came as NATO Secretary-General George Robertson condemned ethnic Albanian guerrillas as "thugs."

"A band of armed thugs must not be allowed to destroy a multi-ethnic democracy and these senseless attacks must cease," Robertson told a meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Lithuania on Thursday.

Ethnic Albanian rebels have waged a five-month guerrilla campaign against Skopje, fighting to end what they say is violence and discrimination against ethnic Albanians who make up around a third of Macedonia's two million population.

NATO and the European Union on Wednesday gave their backing to Macedonia's recently formed "unity" coalition government in its battle against the insurgents.

Robertson said it was "vital that the legitimate concerns of the ethnic Albanian community are recognised and accommodated by the government."

Georgievski's comments marked a major change from the government's tough position in the past several months.

The government earlier had rejected the ethnic Albanian demands saying that the constitutional changes would eventually lead to a division of the country into an ethnic Albanian and a Slav-dominated part.

The government also refused to negotiate with the rebels whom it considers terrorists.

Georgievski pledged that the state will defeat the militants, but added that the Macedonian constitution might be rewritten to declare the ethnic Albanians a constituent nation and their language official.

So far, the constitution defines Macedonia as the country of Macedonian people and other citizens, while the only official language was Macedonian.

On Wednesday, a key ethnic Albanian politician warned that peace cannot be achieved unless the government starts to negotiate with the rebel National Liberation Army.

"The peace in Macedonia doesn't depend only on us," said Arben Xhaferi, whose Democratic Party of Albanians is included in the unity government.

Meanwhile, international humanitarian organisations have expressed concern over civilians caught in the fighting area along the border with Kosovo.

Between 5,000 and 10,000 people are "trapped" in rebel-held villages besieged by government forces, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva has said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was prepared to supervise efforts to bring the civilians out.

Macedonian officials claimed the rebels refused to let the civilians go.

"People (are) caught up in a desperate situation," the ICRC said in a statement urging the warring sides "to find a solution which means that civilians are not exposed to hostilities in this way."

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was sending observers to the villages Wednesday "so that we have a clear idea and information on what's happening in that part of the country," European Union security affairs chief Javier Solana said.