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Warning over Macedonia peace deal
SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Macedonian officials have warned of all-out civil war as fresh violence casts doubt over whether a tentative peace plan can be signed. Macedonia's army fired on the mainly ethnic Albanian village of Ljuboten from helicopter gunships on Friday after a convoy of trucks drove over a pair of landmines 10 kilometres (six miles) north of the capital, Skopje, killing at least seven Macedonian soldiers. A day of mourning was declared for Saturday as The Associated Press reported that an eighth soldier had died from wounds received in the explosions. As the fighting escalated, the country's foreign minister pleaded with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, NATO chief Lord Robertson and European Union envoy Javier Solana to assist Macedonia at "this most dramatic moment." Ilinka Mitreva said in an letter: "Macedonia is facing the threat of civil war. We must not allow Macedonia to perish in flames."
A rebel commander who goes by the name Sokoli, or Falcon, told The Associated Press there was no reason for the rebels to lay down their arms when government forces were using helicopter gunships and artillery against them. "The situation is worsening and we are ready for everything," he said from his mountain hideout. The fighting jeopardises a western-backed peace plan designed to end six months of rebellion and lead to disarmament of the rebels in the troubled Balkan country. The pact is scheduled to be signed on Monday, according to European Union envoy Francois Leotard. Friday's deaths near the villages of Ljubanci and Ljuboten prompted a demonstration in front of the U.S. Embassy in Skopje by protesters who accuse NATO of favouring the ethnic Albanian rebels. The U.S. State Department issued a warning on Friday to Americans not to travel to Macedonia and ordered all non-emergency embassy personnel and their dependents to leave the country. About 300 to 400 protesters were held back by police as they tried to break into the grounds amid shouts of "NATO killers" and "NATO Albanians." Rocks were thrown but there was no damage to the embassy. After about a half hour, the protesters moved to the nearby British and German embassies, where they were also pushed away, then made their way back to the parliament building. Police blocked bridges to prevent them from going into other parts of the city. The fighting on Friday followed the deaths on Wednesday of 10 Macedonian soldiers who were killed when their convoy was ambushed on the road between Skopje and Tetovo, the centre of fighting between the ethnic Albanian rebels and government troops. Funerals for the 10 soldiers took place on Friday in Prilep. Referring to Friday's deaths, U.S. peace envoy James Pardew said on a visit to Macedonia's neighbour Bulgaria: "This is clearly a setback for the peace process, but it is critical that this agreement is signed on Monday." Under terms of the peace pact agreed between Macedonia's political leaders on Wednesday, the rebels would renounce violence in return for greater rights for the one-third Albanian minority, and NATO troops would collect their arms. Mitreva said in a letter to the international community that the latest death toll among the security forces showed the guerrillas were highly unlikely to disarm voluntarily. "Since it is natural to assume that, following everything that has happened, the so-called NLA will not proceed with voluntary disarmament, perhaps this should be a sign for the process and plan for disarmament to be redesigned," it said. |
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