NATO approves Macedonia force

Up to 100,000 refugees have been displaced

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- NATO has formally approved plans to send a 3,000-strong force to Macedonia to help disarm ethnic Albanian rebels.

But the force will only be deployed if a lasting political agreement and ceasefire takes hold to resolve the country's crisis.

"Essentially now, NATO is ready to implement the plan, provided the proper environment exists," NATO spokesman Yves Brodeur said on Friday.

The operation will only take effect if the Macedonian government and ethnic Albanian political leaders solve their differences, Brodeur said.

VIDEO CNN's Nick Robertson reports on President Trajkovski's struggle to maintain control in Macedonia (June 26) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

"Rebels also have to commit to laying down their weapons and stop fighting," he added.

Earlier this week, NATO peacekeepers extricated 300 ethnic Albanian rebels from the besieged village of Aracinovo.

The intervention triggered riots by Macedonian Slavs outraged that Western forces had taken part in what they saw as a rescue of rebel forces.

QUICKVOTE Has Macedonia's president been too lenient on ethnic Albanian rebels? Yes No View Results

The new force would supervise the disarming of National Liberation Army fighters who give up their weapons voluntarily.

Brodeur added that NATO troops would not use force to disarm the rebels.

Fifteen of the 19 NATO member countries are to take part in the force.

Approval for the plan came as the European Union's new Balkans envoy met Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski to try and prevent a new war in the Balkans.

IN-DEPTH Macedonia: Hurdles to peace   •  Balkan hotspots   •  Interactive map   •  Macedonia's military   •  News search   •  Audio/video archive   •  In-Depth: Yugoslavia   •  In-Depth: Kosovo   PROFILE Francois Leotard

"I indicated to President Trajkovski that there were several levels of dialogue," Francois Leotard told reporters after the meeting.

"There is the political dialogue among parliamentary representatives, but there's another dialogue which is carried out between the authorities of this republic with the international community and the opinion of the European Union has its place in this."

About 100,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanian villagers, have been displaced by the conflict with Albanian rebels.

Thousands of others remain trapped in the northern hills held by the rebels in conditions described by some aid workers as close to a humanitarian catastrophe.

A doctor in the northeasten village of Slupcane, held by the rebels and shelled by the troops since early May, said the situation there was "catastrophic."

"We have a lot of infection. We do not have food. There are a lot of dead animals. If they do nothing to bury them, it is possible there will be an epidemic," said the doctor who preferred to be called by his first name, Fatmir.

In Kosovo, the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force said 20 suspected guerrillas from Macedonia were detained on Thursday near the border. Three of them had gunshot wounds.

Macedonian and ethnic Albanian political leaders have been discussing ways to improve minority rights to undercut the four-month-old rebellion, but talks have stalled.

Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski said on Friday he had ordered demobilisation of some police reservists.