COMMENT: THE DEVIL OF PERVERSITY (Ferid Muhic) Posted May 12, 2001
part of IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 246, May 11, 2001
COMMENT: THE DEVIL OF PERVERSITY
Will the new coalition government in Skopje be able to marginalise the extremists threatening to plunge the country into bloody conflict?
By Ferid Muhic in Skopje
Last week, Macedonia's parliament rejected calls for a state of war to be declared. Instead, a new, broader coalition government of national unity came into being.
It is excellent news, especially as radicals - both Macedonian and Albanian - have been pushing for Skopje to formally go to war against Albanian fighters.
George Robertson, NATO secretary general, recently described the situation in the country in dramatic terms. "Macedonia is on the edge of an abyss!" he said.
The writer Edgar Allan Poe once recommended to his readers that they avoid approaching the edge of any abyss. The fear provoked by the looming depths becomes hypnotic, he wrote, and mesmerises the unwary until temptation overcomes sense and the unfortunate individual steps over the edge. Poe labelled this temptation "The devil of perversity".
Macedonian political leaders, in government and opposition, have long played fast and loose with this devil.
It all began with a clandestine "gentleman's agreement" to pursue private political and commercial interests through gradual and controlled manipulation of ethnic tensions between the two main ethnic groups - Macedonians and Albanians. The strategy paid great dividends.
It's no secret that some of the leading lights in the former ruling coalition - the Macedonian VMRO and the Albanian DPA - are among the richest individuals in the country.
But it was a dangerous strategy - as the recent fighting has illustrated. And now, after two months of clashes between security forces and Albanian armed groups in the mountains near the border with Kosovo, Macedonia has stumbled towards the edge of the abyss - or to give it its correct name, civil war.
All last week, parliamentary debates were dominated by calls from Macedonian politicians for a state of war to be declared. Albanian deputies strongly opposed the move. So too did the international community.
Those in favour believe a state of war would significantly enhance the efficiency of the military operation against the Albanian insurgency. Now that their demands have been rejected, they complain a crucial opportunity has been missed.
Hawks, the extremists on the Macedonian side believe the chance has gone to resolve the "Albanian issue" once and for all - by burning Albanian villages and forcing people to leave their homes.
Albanian extremists too are disappointed, believing a state of war would help them to secure their goal - an independent territory for Albanians.
But overwhelming military action would only increase the risk of terrible, uncontrollable violence. Further polarisation of the two communities would become inevitable.
The space for political dialogue would be dramatically narrowed for both sides. The possibility of a serious crisis, with key parties leaving the coalition, would increase.
Macedonia would also risk being discredited internationally should accusations of human rights violations surface, even if such claims proved to be untrue.
The pitfalls of declaring a state of war outweigh the benefits. Such a declaration would be akin to an amputation - a rapid and relatively easy surgical procedure, but one leaving the patient seriously debilitated.
The only solution still open to saving inter-ethnic cooperation rests with the new coalition government. It must demonstrate that it truly represents the republic's interests. Macedonian politicians need to unite, and be seen to be defending all the country's citizens, not just Macedonians.
Albanian politicians, meanwhile, need to distance themselves from any violence and explicitly condemn it no matter what the motive. Secondly, they must commit to the continued stability and integrity of the state, and to make clear that the only acceptable means for resolving their community's problems is through Macedonia's legal institutions.
Should the authorities remain divided, especially along ethnic lines, they will be incapable of guaranteeing security.
Extremists on both sides believe the decision not to declare a state of war is a setback. But perched as we are on the edge of an abyss, it is better and wiser to step backwards not forwards. Macedonia's political leaders have played too long with the devil of perversity, with civil war.
Many things have been destroyed in the process, many others seriously damaged. It remains to be seen whether the new coalition can marginalise the extremists. If it doesn't, it is only a matter of time before calls for a state of war will reverberate around parliament once again.
Ferid Muhic is a professor of philosophy at Skopje university
Democratic National Party Requests From Macedonia International Protectorate And Including NLA In Negotiations Posted May 12, 2001
KosovaLive 12 May 2001
http://kosovalive.com/english/latest.htm
Democratic National Party Requests From Macedonia International Protectorate And Including NLA In Negotiations
May 12, 2001 TETOVA (KosovaLive) - The Democratic National Party (DNP) headed by Kastriot Haxhiraxha, rejected Saturday all the priorities of the wide coalition government that was formed Friday.
"We do not support any forming of wider governments because the DNP considers that such things are not solutions that lead toward stability, DNP's general secretary, Xhevat Ademi, told KosovaLive.
According to Ademi, DNP came out with a platform for solving the crises, which would have come to its conclusion with an international protectorate, with the Albanian-Macedonian dialogue, with the participation of the National Liberation Army (NLA), and with early elections.
The leaders of the four parties taking part in the coalition government formed Friday in Skopje, said that the duty of this government would be to develop dialogue and to lead the country toward early elections. (s.ibrahimi)
Macedonians claim to have killed 30 rebels Posted May 12, 2001
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010512/3/p26i.html
Sunday May 13, 1:32 AM
Macedonians claim to have killed 30 rebels
By Elisaveta Konstantinova
KUMANOVO, Macedonia (Reuters) - Macedonia said it had killed some 30 ethnic Albanian guerrillas on Saturday in heavy bombardment of rebel-held villages and two nearby convoys, shattering a day-long ceasefire that enabled a political deal.
"The number of terrorists killed today is about 30," army spokesman Blagoja Markovski told Reuters in Kumanovo, close to the battered mountain villages of Vakcince and Slupcane.
The casualty figure -- the highest claimed by the government side for any one day -- could not be confirmed independently. The National Liberation Army rebels have given clearly inflated figures of army losses.
The intensified shelling followed a Friday accord drawing rival parties into an emergency national unity government, partly facilitated by a dawn-to-dusk break in army bombardment.
The United States and the European Union see the broad coalition as the best defence against an escalation of the crisis into civil war and even a wider Balkan conflict.
"We have a massive operation. It began at 10:10 a.m. (0810 GMT) when we hit targets in Slupcane. At 10:20 we hit a column of uniformed terrorists north of Slupcane," Markovski said.
"We were most active at about 2:30 p.m. when we hit a column to the northwest of Vakcince. We used artillery and tanks in the morning and helicopters in the afternoon," he said.
Reporters, kept away from the front, saw three Soviet-made T-55 tanks arrive to reinforce army positions less than two km (1.2 miles) below Vakcince. They slammed shells into the already ruined hamlet after a short burst of automatic fire from rebels.
CIVILIANS GROWING CONCERN
There was no sign of the infantry reinforcement needed for an advance into the rebel-held hamlets, where at least hundreds of civilians have been cowering in basements for 11 days.
Defence Ministry spokesman Georgi Trendafilov said the army was acting on "selected and legitimate targets" to avoid casualties among the many civilians trapped in the fighting.
"The fact we do not attack at the moment does not mean we will let the terrorists leave the region and leave the territory of Macedonia freely," he said. "This is out of the question."
At least 8,000 civilians have fled to Kosovo and about 1,000 were displaced inside Macedonia but the rest refuse to leave.
The government says they are being intimidated by the guerrillas and used as shields to deter an all-out military assault. But the guerrillas, condemned as murderous thugs by NATO, have the sympathy of some ethnic Albanians.
"The situation in the villages is still very worrying, Amanda Williamson, spokeswoman for the International Red Cross Committee in Skopje, told Reuters.
"The medical situation is very difficult and access to water supply is becoming a problem. There is no electricity. Food is a problem, it seems they are surviving on very little food."
PDP WANTS END TO SHELLING
In Macedonia's 10 years of independence it has been ruled by two coalitions of Slav and Albanian parties. Friday's accord forms a third, this time an all-party government, which is seen as the best prospect for rebalancing ethnic rights.
The deal, struck under intense Western pressure, aims to isolate ethnic Albanian gunmen by forcing parties to unite and pass laws which answer the longstanding grievances of Macedonia's one-third Albanian minority.
The Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP), which held out on the coalition for four days while it demanded a ceasefire, said after a meeting in the northwestern city of Tetovo it was pushing for an end to the shelling.
"We are in constant contact with Western diplomats and the government to urge them to stop the offensive," spokesman Zahir Bekteshi said. "That was the point of us joining the coalition."
The PDP, Macedonia's second biggest ethnic Albanian party, only agreed to join the new coalition, due for parliamentary approval on Sunday, after heavy pressure by the West.
Macedonian foreign minister resigns Posted May 12, 2001
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010512/1/p1zw.html
Saturday May 12, 11:39 PM
Macedonian foreign minister resigns
SKOPJE, May 12 (AFP) -
Macedonian Foreign Minister Srdjan Kerim on Saturday resigned over the representation of his Liberal Party in a new government of national unity, Kerim said on television.
"I am leaving my position and I have accepted an offer of a high-level diplomatic post," Kerim said, explaining the move was also linked to the role offered to his Liberal Party in the new unity government in Skopje.
Macedonia media has reported that Kerim could become Macedonia's next ambassador to the United Nations.
Key Party Joins Emergency Macedonian Coalition Posted May 11, 2001
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010511/wl/macedonia_dc.html
Friday May 11 8:28 AM ET
Key Party Joins Emergency Macedonian Coalition
By Daniel Simpson
SKOPJE (Reuters) - A key Albanian party agreed on Friday to join an emergency Macedonian coalition designed to isolate ethnic Albanian guerrillas, completing an all-party government seen as the best hope of averting civil war.
A senior official in the ethnic Albanian Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP) said it had decided to enter the coalition.
``The PDP has agreed to join,'' the PDP official, who declined to be named, told Reuters by telephone.
The West has exerted heavy pressure on the party to join, even though rebels say a deal will not end their insurgency.
Although Macedonia has rejected the lasting cease-fire demanded by the PDP as a condition for signing up, it ordered a break in shelling of rebel-held mountain villages as politicians made a last-ditch bid to seal the coalition.
Talks to finalize the new government, in which a Western diplomat said the PDP had been offered ministerial posts, were put back by three hours to 1300 GMT while the PDP deliberated.
The West had told the PDP, which shared power for seven years after Macedonia broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991, to scrap its demand for a promise the coalition would rewrite the constitution to address Albanian minority grievances.
``When the nation's very survival is at stake, there is no room for playing politics,'' NATO (news - web sites) chief George Robertson said in Madrid, repeating what diplomats had told the PDP in Skopje.
DE-FACTO CEASEFIRE
A Western diplomat said the decision to halt bombardment of rebel positions for 15 hours on Friday had been designed to ease pressure on the talks to salvage a broad coalition deal.
``Officially the cease-fire was presented to allow civilians to evacuate and aid organizations to provide humanitarian assistance,'' the diplomat said. ``There is a cease-fire going on to enable the coalition negotiations with the PDP to proceed.''
Reuters reporters said there was no shelling of rebel-held mountain villages close to the capital Skopje on Friday as a de-facto cease-fire broadly held, but occasional automatic fire was audible. Western monitors also reported sporadic fire.
The guerrillas, who say they have not budged an inch despite eight previous days of shelling, dismissed talks that exclude them and demanded an internationally brokered agreement to deal with discrimination against the one-third Albanian minority.
``The creation of the coalition government...does not help solve the situation,'' the National Liberation Army said in a communique signed by NLA political leader Ali Ahmeti.
But a PDP decision to join existing coalition member the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) means the new government, which would be able to rewrite the constitution, would be less dominated by representatives of the two-thirds Slav majority.
Up in the hills 30 km (20 miles) northeast of the tiny Balkan state's capital, NLA rebels said they were fighting for the same end to discrimination against Albanians in jobs, education and language rights that politicians want addressed.
They deny using the mostly ethnic Albanian populations of peasant villages as ``human shields'' against army attack, saying civilians have chosen to stay rather than heed government invitations to leave during daily morning breaks in bombardment.
NLA Commander Sokoli said the PDP's tactics would not end the insurgency that the shelling has sought to crush.
``All they're interested in is being co-opted into the political process to try and feather their nests,'' he said.
Macedonia caught in military and political stalemate Posted May 11, 2001
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010509/3/otrc.html
Thursday May 10, 6:43 AM
Macedonia caught in military and political stalemate
By Douglas Hamilton
SKOPJE (Reuters) - The Macedonia crisis was locked in stalemate on Thursday after a week of sustained fighting.
Ethnic Albanian guerrillas say they have not retreated an inch despite heavy army bombardment of villages they hold.
The army has not yet moved forward, partly, it says, because civilians cannot or will not leave the battle area.
A key ethnic Albanian opposition party is blocking formation of a national unity government designed to isolate the nationalist guerrillas, demanding a ceasefire first.
The delay is worrying Western powers, who urged a coalition in top-level talks on Monday and hoped to see it formed by now.
Party leaders agree a union would undercut any sympathy for the insurgents and speed up laws to improve Albanian rights.
Two big Slav parties, representing two-thirds of the people, and one of the two Albanian groups want a unity government.
But the fragmented opposition Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP) wants truce conditions thrashed out beforehand.
The rebels dismiss the coalition as more stalling.
INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS DEMANDED
The PDP wants a total halt to shelling, withdrawal of all fighters, and phased return of police under foreign monitoring.
A PDP official promised a decision on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the village of Slupcane was shelled again while battered Vakcince, nearby, was spared.
The conflict zone, inhabited by some 25,000 mostly ethnic Albanian people, lies west of the town of Kumanovo and just 30 km (20 miles) northeast of the capital Skopje.
Government broadcasts urge civilians to leave, either to Kumanovo or across into United Nations-administered Kosovo, a Yugoslav province with an overwhelmingly Albanian population.
Some 7,600 ethnic Albanians fled to Kosovo in the past week, said Amanda Williamson of the UNHCR refugee agency.
"We are extremely concerned that people are staying in the villages ... We've never had such a situation," she said.
Young men leaving for Kosovo said they were singled out and roughly interrogated by police over suspected "terrorist" links.
REBELS ALLEGE WANTON DESTRUCTION
Government sources said a quiet deal with the PDP would give "National Liberation Army" (NLA) fighters 72 hours to pull out.
But Macedonian presidential adviser Nikola Dimitrov said there could be no unilateral ceasefire with "terrorists.
"If the PDP's ceasefire condition envisages a stop in defending the country, it would be unacceptable," he said.
The government fears the rebels will simply create another flashpoint somewhere else, claiming that Albanians are being offered empty promises.
A grand coalition would have unchallenged power to enact new laws to end job, education and language discrimination.
The NLA, however, says that is not enough. It demands a share in power before agreeing to give up its weapons.
"We have not budged an inch," said an NLA commander east of Kumanovo, accusing the army of indiscriminate destruction.
"There's no water and no power in those villages and they're full of dead animals. There is a risk of epidemics."
Commander Sokoli denied holding civilians as human shields.
"There are 30,000 civilians in this area. How could we possibly keep them hostage against their will?" he demanded.
Some 108 Families From Macedonia Arrive In Three Days Only In Prishtina Posted May 11, 2001
http://www.kosovalive.com/english/english.htm
Some 108 Families From Macedonia Arrive In Three Days Only In Prishtina
May 10, 2001
PRISHTINA (KosovaLive) - For only three days, 108 Albanian families from Macedonia found shelter in Prishtina, said officials at the municipal Red Cross in Prishtina Thursday.
"Regarding the Macedonian refugees, the Red Cross is taking care of finding shelter for them with families," Ahmet Ademi, logistic manager of Kosova's Red Cross, told KosovaLive. According to him, the majority of refugees are sheltered in Prishtina and surrounding villages.
"The Municipal Red Cross in Prishtina appeals to all citizens of Kosova to offer help to those arrived from Macedonia," Ademi said. He also appeals that all companies help the Red Cross according to their capability, so that it can provide more effective assistance to the Macedonian refugees.
Not all the arrived families from Macedonia in Pristina confirm UNHCR statements that they are being helped.
"We are nine family members and we have come from Macedonia legally. As far as material aid is concerned, not one non-governmental organization has offered anything," members of the Sylejmani family from village Drenovc near Tetova, told KosovaLive. This family that is sheltered in the Tophane neighborhood in Prishtina, said that they came to Kosova after being threatened by Macedonian police and fearing new attacks by Macedonian military made their way to Kosova.(mc/shp)
Forty-Four Detainees That Fled From Macedonia Released Posted May 11, 2001
http://www.kosovalive.com/english/english.htm
Forty-Four Detainees That Fled From Macedonia Released
May 10, 2001
PRIZREN (KosovaLive) - The 44 detained Albanians suspected for implications during fights in Macedonia, were released Wednesday night from the Dubrava jail, the District Court in Prizren reported Thursday.
The group of 44 Albanians, six of which are Kosovars, were arrested by German KFOR troops while crossing the border from Macedonia in Kosova with the wave of refugees at the end of March.
One of the newly released that wished to stay anonymous told KosovaLive that the detainees were treated well during their arrest. He also said that the detainees were notified of their release Wednesday at 6 p.m. by a person who spoke in English, whereas the translator told them that they were being released because they were innocent. The newly released said that he is seeking his family that came with him to Kosova to escape the war, but he was arrested with the others. "At his moment we do not know where our families are sheltered," said one of the released.
The German KFOR peacekeepers after arresting the group had said that they were being arrested for illegal crossing of the border and illegal possession of weapons.
UNMIK Police spokesman, Aleksander Miron, told KosovaLive that the police has no information regarding the release.
In Prizren's District Court it was said that their release was carried out based on the decision of Kosova's Supreme Court. "The complaint at Kosova's Supreme Court, the decision for the release of the detainees was given based on the decision of Kosova's Supreme Court, but it still has not arrived at Prizren's Court," Engjell Ceta, president of the District Court said.
According to Ceta, the detainees were released, but investigations have not ended and they are to continue. "The group of 44 persons was under investigation conducted by the international prosecutor the international judge in Prizren, Daniel Gruja," he said.
Because of the location, he said, only 22 persons from the group were detained in the jail of Prizren, where they were interrogated, where as the other half was sent to the jail of Dubrava.
Some of the released have joined their families today that are sheltered in the municipalities of Prizren and Shar. However, the others are still searching through lists trying to find their families. (qm)
Ilir Meta And Arben Xhaferi Appeal Against Fighting And For Prompt Beginning Of Reforms In Macedonia Posted May 11, 2001
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Ilir Meta And Arben Xhaferi Appeal Against Fighting And For Prompt Beginning Of Reforms In Macedonia
May 10, 2001
TIRANA (KosovaLive) - Albania's Prime Minister, Ilir Meta, met with the president of the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) of Macedonia, Arben Xhaferi, Wednesday evening in Pogradec. The meeting unfolded in exchanging stands regarding the stability and solving of the current situation in Macedonia.
Meta and Xhaferi positively assessed the efforts of the international community in leading the crises toward a political solution. They also had a positive opinion about the fact that a state of war was not declared in Macedonia and regarding the forming of a government including the participation of the Macedonian and Albanian opposition.
"This is the most correct way for all the political parties in Macedonia to leave behind the political demagogy and take responsibility for new institutional reforms that would create more democratic multinational relations. This would go in the advantage of long term stability and Macedonia's integration in Europe," was the opinion of the two leaders.
At the meeting Meta and Xhaferi emphasized once more if the situation continues to stay radical, it does not serve in the interest of the Albanians or the Macedonian. They appealed for the need to end the fighting and violent acts; emphasizing the need for prompt reforms that would solve the crisis with political and peaceful means.(ap)
We Are Trying To Reach Plan For Ending Fights By Both Sides, Says PPD's spokesman Zahir Bekteshi Posted May 11, 2001
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We Are Trying To Reach Plan For Ending Fights By Both Sides, Says PPD's spokesman Zahir Bekteshi
May 10, 2001
TETOVA (KosovaLive) - The Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP) will decide Thursday on whether they will enter the government of wider coalition, PDP's spokesman, Zahir Bekteshi, told KosovaLive Thursday.
Bekteshi said that "a plan exists with the aim of ending the fighting from both sides and allowing teams for civilian help to enter."
According to Bekteshi, if the plan is able to be realized then it would include the end of the fighting for 72 hours, and we would simultaneously request understanding also from the Albanian military side. "The issue is a little complicated but I think that we will achieve something," Bekteshi told the KosovaLive agency via telephone.
All the other political parties have agreed to enter the wider coalition. The Ministry of Justice and a seat for one minister should belong to the PPD. (si)
NLA LABELS AS UNTRUE THE ACCUSATIONS OF THE MACEDONIAN PRIME MINISTER Posted May 11, 2001
http://www.merhamet.com
NLA LABELS AS UNTRUE THE ACCUSATIONS OF THE MACEDONIAN PRIME MINISTER
Skopje, 10 May 2001 (CHOM) The Macedonin Prime minister Lupco Georgievski, declared that members of NLA have obstructed some humanitarian workers to enter the regions where Albanian guerrilas are stationed. Menwhile, one of the commanders of NLA, known as commander Shpati told the BBC reporter that the inforamtion given by the Prime minister is untrue and that, as he said, it is not true that humanitarian workers were not allowed to enter the area controlled by NLA. Commander Shpati said that everone is welcomed in those areas, exept, as he said, the Macedonian security forces
Terror and roses in ground zero village: Nick Wood describes how he and photographer Andrew Testa were caught in Macedonian army tank fire Posted May 11, 2001
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,488420,00.html
Terror and roses in ground zero village
Nick Wood describes how he and photographer Andrew Testa were caught in Macedonian army tank fire
Thursday May 10, 2001 The Guardian
We set out shortly before 6am. The ceasefire announced by the Macedonian government was due to end in four hours' time.
On the road to Slupcane, ground zero of the government's battle with the ethnic Albanian guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army, two small groups of people were walking along the road, holding bags between them and heading west.
The approach to the village looked much the same as the last time we had gone down the road on Sunday. There were a few more mortar craters in the road, but the dead cow I had seen lying bloated, face upwards in a field, was now being picked at by crows.
We were granted permission to see the village by a rebel commander who insisted that a "press officer", a gaunt man in a puffa jacket and dark trousers, go with us. He did not appear to be armed.
First stop was a series of houses at the southern end of the village. We drove in the BBC's armoured car, a large white Land Rover marked in six places with the letters "TV", which was supposed to afford protection against machine-gun fire.
Our press officer directed our attention to the houses at the edge of the village. All had gaping holes in them. A telegraph wire lay across the road. As Andrew Testa, the Guardian photographer, went ahead with our translator, Artan, I turned the Land Rover around so that we faced back toward the centre of the village.
I caught up with them near a line of sandbags and a bunker. "Keep in," Andrew said, adding that Macedonian army positions were down the road.
Before I had time to think about it, the crack of machine-gun fire opened up around us. I ran to the right and fell into a trench running along a wall, and then a few seconds later into the bunker itself. Half a dozen guerrilla fighters followed suit. A loud bang followed.
"They blown up your car," Artan said as rebels shouted down to us.
The terror of what was happening was just beginning to sink in. The Macedonian army had broken its own ceasefire. The idea that journalists could safely wander in and out of the rebel-held area had literally been blown away.
We set about making frantic phone calls to government spokesmen and other contacts. The only place with a signal was just outside the entrance to the bunker, in a shallow trench. Andrew and I took it in turn to call. "I'll do everything I can, but its not my area, it's the army's," said a despairing ministry of interior official.
This wasn't getting us anywhere. I returned to the dugout. Foam mattresses had been laid out on the floor and covered in blankets. Opposite me a gunman clicked worry beads and sang.
Eventually the Red Cross spokesman, François Stam, called: "I've just spoken to the president's chef de cabinet . He says the army's ceasefire is still holding."
A tank shell slammed into a building behind us, quickly dispelling that idea. "Are you sure you know where the shooting is coming from?" the voice on the other end of the mobile asked.
"Don't worry Nick, everything's going to be alright," Artan said as I jogged my knee with increasing intensity. So long as the Macedonian army stuck to heavy machine gun and tank fire he was right. Mortars and artillery shells however could pierce the earthworks piled on to the wooden roof above our heads.
We were with six guerrillas, including an 18-year-old woman who had fought with the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army two years ago. She went out during the shelling and came back with a bunch of roses, removed the thorns and handed me one.
After two hours the shooting had died down to intermittent cannon fire. By now the Red Cross, senior ministry of defence and interior ministry officials were pulling out all the stops.
I was eventually given the number of the local army captain. We could leave but there was one problem. Which way did we want to go?
By 9am, my hopes of getting out were fading. We had one hour until the government was due to relaunch its bombardment. More phone calls were made, and half an hour later we had the signal to leave. We were to make a white flag, and walk about a third of a mile towards the army's checkpoint.
Andrew made quick work of a whitish woolly carpet lying beneath us. Artan was too afraid to leave with us and said he would try to get out with the rebels, via a back road.
I waved the flag over the sandbags for a few seconds and emerged on to the road, with hands raised. It was only now we could see how near we were to the army's lines Ten minutes later, we walked up to a line of tanks and an armoured personnel carrier, waving as we got closer. While we were being searched, a soldier asked. "Whose white van was that?"
"Ours", I said, pointing at my chest.
"Oh, sorry," he replied. An hour later the shelling resumed.
Macedonia Seeks Coalition Deal, Rebels Dismiss It Posted May 11, 2001
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010510/wl/macedonia_dc.html
Thursday May 10 6:36 PM ET
Macedonia Seeks Coalition Deal, Rebels Dismiss It
By Daniel Simpson
SKOPJE (Reuters) - Macedonia aims to form an emergency coalition government on Friday to isolate ethnic Albanian guerrillas, but the rebels say a deal will not end their insurgency, regardless of which parties sign up.
The army has scaled down shelling of rebel-held mountain villages as the West piles pressure on the Albanian Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP) to complete an all-party coalition designed to stop a fragile ethnic mix fragmenting in civil war.
Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski has given the PDP a final chance to back the plan when he meets party leaders at 1000 GMT, but rejected its call for a lasting cease-fire before it joins.
Western leaders appealed to the PDP to stop fighting over terms and make the national unity government a reality first.
``When the nation's very survival is at stake, there is no room for playing politics,'' NATO (news - web sites) chief George Robertson said in Madrid, repeating what diplomats have told the PDP in Skopje.
But the guerrillas, who say they have not budged an inch despite a week of shelling, dismissed talks that exclude them and demanded an internationally brokered agreement to address the grievances of Macedonia's one-third Albanian minority.
``The creation of the coalition government...does not help solve the situation,'' the National Liberation Army (NLA) rebels said in a communique signed by NLA political leader Ali Ahmeti.
The opposition PDP, which shared power with socialists for seven years after Macedonia broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991, wants the NLA to be included in talks, a Western diplomat said.
But heavy British and U.S. pressure to drop this demand -- and another for parties to promise to rewrite Macedonia's constitution -- could still bring it round, the official added.
``They have been offered tantalizing positions, meaning ministries, in the government,'' the diplomat said.
WILL THEY, WON'T THEY?
PDP Deputy Chairman Abdylhadi Veseli said he hoped to find a solution to break the deadlock in a crisis which first flared in March when rebels surfaced near the mountainous Kosovo border.
``We want to rule responsibly with the coalition,'' he said.
Hashim Thaci, a former guerrilla leader in Kosovo but now head of the main ethnic Albanian party in the United Nations (news - web sites)-run Yugoslav province, joined those urging the PDP to do just that.
``We all understand that the (PDP's) boycott of this process does not help in solving the problems,'' Thaci said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, who visited Skopje late on Thursday, said he backed the Macedonian government and appealed to the PDP to become its partner.
Without a second Albanian party to join the existing member, the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), the coalition could be even more dominated by representatives of a two-thirds Slav majority.
Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski said a new government would be formed on Saturday regardless of who signs up. ``The PDP will be asked for the last time: 'Are they ready?'''
Up in the hills 30 km (20 miles) northeast of the tiny Balkan state's capital, NLA rebels said they were fighting for the same end to discrimination against Albanians in jobs, education and language rights that politicians want addressed.
They deny using the mostly ethnic Albanian populations of peasant villages as ``human shields'' against army attack, saying civilians have chosen to stay rather than heed government invitations to leave during daily morning breaks in bombardment.
NLA Commander Sokoli said the PDP's maneuvering would not end the insurgency that the shelling has sought to crush.
``All they're interested in is being coopted into the political process to try and feather their nests,'' he said.
UÇK Commander calls for diplomatic solution Posted May 11, 2001
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/07edf7cab656f436c1256a48005cc56d?OpenDocument
Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Date: 10 May 2001
Macedonia: UCK Commander calls for diplomatic solution
By Jolyon Naegele
A stalemate is developing on the eighth day of renewed fighting between ethnic Albanian fighters and Macedonian security forces near the border with Serbia. Correspondent Jolyon Naegele reports that a commander of the insurgent National Liberation Army last night called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in a telephone interview with RFE/RL.
Prague, 10 May 2001 (RFE/RL) -- The fighting in and around the villages northwest of Kumanovo in the eastern foothills of the Skopje Black Mountains has developed into a routine.
The government regularly announces a morning cease-fire from five to ten o'clock to enable civilians to flee -- although few, if any, in recent days have come out. About an hour after the temporary cease-fire ends, the Macedonian army begins firing its tank cannons and other artillery, mainly in the direction of Vaksince, Slupcane, Orizare, and three other villages. Ethnic Albanian insurgents of the National Liberation Army, or UCK, fire back with light weapons.
The Macedonian army says its operations are against what it calls "selective targets," which it describes as "ethnic Albanian terrorist positions." "The Washington Post" yesterday quoted the (unnamed) mayor of one of the six besieged villages as saying that 15 people had been killed as of Tuesday (May 8). But the International Red Cross says it has documented only two fatalities.
Defense Ministry spokesman Gjorgji Trendafilov said in Kumanovo yesterday: "From the very start of the operation we have been aware of the civilian presence, and fire only at strictly selected legitimate targets." He added that "all of this reduces the efficiency and speed of the operation in the field."
Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski today told reporters in Skopje that, except for the daily five-hour break for civilians, "there will be no long-term cease-fire."
But an UCK commander who goes by the name "Sokoli" says the time has come for a diplomatic solution to end the violence.
"We also favor resolving the crisis by diplomatic means. But so far the Macedonian government has not demonstrated the good will needed to resolve the crisis through democratic means rather than by bombing civilians, bombing Albanian villages, bombing everything that is Albanian."
Sokoli dismisses the government's claims of selective targeting and regular cease-fires. Moreover, he suggests a humanitarian disaster is in the making.
"The fighting continues and has not ceased for even a moment. We are maintaining our positions. The situation of the civil population is very bad. There is hardly a house in the villages of Slupcane, Vaksince, and Orizare that has not been shelled."
Sokoli says there is a growing danger of an epidemic erupting in the area. In the interview, he called on humanitarian organizations to visit the embattled villages.
As a result of the continued fighting, attempts to form a broad coalition government of national unity have stalled. One of the country's two main Albanian parties, the Party for Democratic Prosperity -- or PDP -- says a coalition government is out of the question as long as villages are being shelled.
Commander Sokoli's view is similar to that of the PDP.
"As long as the [government security forces] are shelling Albanian villages, I do not see any chance of forming a coalition government."
Prime Minister Georgievski said today he has told PDP leaders this is their last chance to join the national unity government and that he intends to proceed with talks on forming a broad coalition regardless of the party's stand.
Skopje dailies reported today that the country's respected foreign minister, Srdjan Kerim, is expected to keep his post in the new government. Parliament Speaker Stojan Andov, a holdover from the days of communist Yugoslavia, is resigning.
(RFE/RL's Albanian Unit conducted the interview with Sokoli.)
DISSAPEARING OF ALBANIAN CITIZENS - GROWING PHENOMENON Posted May 10, 2001
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DISSAPEARING OF ALBANIAN CITIZENS - GROWING PHENOMENON
Skopje, 10 May 2001 (CHOM)
Today is the 10th day since the misterious 'dissapearnance' of the two brothers Ibrahim dhe Zekirija Veliu from Skopje, for whom the family members say that have been cidnaped by the police but they don't know yet where the brothers are. Unnofficialy, it's been reported that the two brothers were arested on May 1 on their way to Strumica where they were supposed to meet a Macedonian businessman.
4 day ago, in Struga as well, misteriously dissapeared Sulltan Mehmeti from the village of Ladorisht. His villagers state that in his 'dissapearance' the police was involved; but, they do not admit that
MACEDONIAN FORCES TAKE THE YOUNGSTERS FROM THEIR FAMILIES Posted May 10, 2001
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MACEDONIAN FORCES TAKE THE YOUNGSTERS FROM THEIR FAMILIES
Pristina, 10 May 2001 (KOSOVAPRESS)
Albanian refugees from Macedonia, who entered Kosovo yesterday, reported that the Macedonian security forces are taking the young men to the police station in Macedonia where they are being beaten. Since the clashes started between the NLA and the Macedonian military and police forces in the surrounding villages of Kumanovo, since the last week over 7,000 persons found refuge in Kosovo.
Fatmir Qazimi, 21 year old came from Lopate, a village where the military operations are taking place. He said that he had left his village on Tuesday morning with some of the members of his family. "When we arrived at the police check-point, the police took me away from my family", Qazim declared for Reuters as he entered Kosovo. 'We've been arrested without being told the reason of our arrest, were taken to the police station in Kumanovo where we were held for 12 hours. There were 11 of us, all young men. We were badly beaten. Look at my nose and my ear", Qazim continued showing his broken nose and the cut in his left ear.
He also said that the Macedonian police accused them to be members of NLA; but let them go at the end. In the meantime, some hundred persons crossed the official boarder; while others, who didn't have any documentation traveled on foot through the dusty roads of the nearby hills.
"We used the buldozer to open the roads and transfer the refugees with vehicles to the city", an inhabitant of Han t Elezit told the reporter of Reuters."We have to help these people. We will never forget what they have done for us two years ago", he added.
CIVILIANS DO NOT LEAVE THEIR VILLAGES Posted May 10, 2001
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CIVILIANS DO NOT LEAVE THEIR VILLAGES
Skopje, 10 May 2001 (CHOM)
The situation in the Albanian villages of the municipality of Likovo is similar to the other villages. The latest appeal of the Macedonian military and police forces to the inhabitants of the critical regions to leave their homes did not have any success. Over 25,000 Albanians, for eight days are ignoring the pleadings of the army and police. Macedonian authorities accuse the guerrillas for keeping the villagers as hostages, which the villagers deny to be the truth.
Macedonia Rules Out Cease-Fire, Sets Ultimatum Posted May 10, 2001
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Thursday May 10 12:09 PM ET
Macedonia Rules Out Cease-Fire, Sets Ultimatum
By Kole Casule
SKOPJE, Macedonia (Reuters) - Macedonia hardened its line in handling an ethnic Albanian insurgency Thursday, ruling out a long-term cease-fire with the rebels and giving a key Albanian party a last chance to join a national unity government.
As the West stepped up pressure on the Albanian Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP) to join the new coalition designed to isolate the guerrillas, Macedonian troops continued sporadic shelling of rebel-held mountain villages.
The formation of a national unity government would break a political and military deadlock in the tiny Balkan state. But the PDP first wants a total halt to shelling and international guarantees that a cease-fire will hold.
``There will be no long-lasting cease-fire except for the daily five-hour break we give civilians to enable them to leave the villages,'' Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski told a news conference.
He said Friday would be the PDP's final chance to join an emergency coalition that could alter the constitution and pass laws to end job, education and language discrimination against Albanians.
The new government will be formed Saturday, Georgievski said.
``The PDP will be asked for the last time: 'Are they ready?''' he said.
Without a second Albanian party to join existing coalition member the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) it could be even more dominated by representatives of Macedonia's two-thirds Slav majority.
Despite Georgievski's tough words, the army attacks on rebel positions were light compared to the sustained bombardment of the past week.
Reuters reporters heard detonations and automatic fire in mountains near the Kosovo border and watched a brief volley of tank shells toward targets around the village of Slupcane, 20 miles northeast of the capital Skopje.
FRESH DEMANDS
The United States and Britain urged the PDP to drop new calls for a promise of constitutional change before joining the unity government.
Talks Thursday between PDP officials and Western diplomats also looked seriously at accommodating a cease-fire, a Western diplomat said.
The PDP said its decision, which would not be taken on Thursday, would be based on the outcome of talks with the West.
``We're asking the international community for guarantees that a cease-fire will hold,'' PDP spokesman Zahir Bektesi said.
In addition to its call for a total halt to shelling, the PDP wants the withdrawal of all fighters and a phased return of police to the conflict zone under foreign monitoring.
It also backs the ``National Liberation Army'' rebels' demands to join the coalition -- a non-starter with the government.
Britain said it was worried by the delay.
``Every passing day increases the risk of deepening divisions between Macedonia's different ethnic communities,'' a Foreign Office spokesman said.
KOSOVO TO BLAME
After talks with Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, Georgievski said the two had agreed the NLA had links to another shadowy guerrilla group in Serbia's southern Presevo Valley.
They blamed an spillover of ethnic Albanian rebels from neighboring Kosovo, a United Nations (news - web sites)-run Yugoslav province since Western intervention against Serb oppression in 1999.
``The terrorists are well coordinated and they cooperate on the relation between Kosovo, Southern Serbia and northern Macedonia,'' Djindjic said.
Georgievski said the two had decided a joint strategy was needed to deal with guerrilla insurgencies in the region, but both men stopped short of advocating any joint military action.
``If terrorists cooperate between two states I do not see any reason why governments cannot do the same,'' Georgievski said.
Near the rebel-held villages, where conditions reportedly were increasingly squalid, Reuters reporters could see little sign of the civilian evacuations Macedonia has urged to allow its troops to advance against guerrillas who seem dug in.
The conflict zone was home to some 25,000 mostly ethnic Albanian people. Some 8,000 have crossed into Kosovo in the past week as Macedonia has urged, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said.
Many also fled during previous fighting in March and about 1,000 people, mostly Slavs, have moved deeper into Macedonian territory.
Macedonians struggle to salvage deal Posted May 10, 2001
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Thursday, 10 May, 2001, 07:41 GMT 08:41 UK
Macedonians struggle to salvage deal
Some 2,000 villagers are caught up in the fighting
Prospects for a government of national unity in Macedonia remained in the balance on Thursday, as demands by an ethnic Albanian party for an army ceasefire went unheeded.
Government forces continued to shell rebel positions on Wednesday, despite the insistence from the Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP) that the action be suspended.
"Any government formed... without the participation of the NLA will only let more blood get spilled" - Rebel Commander Sokoli
The ceasefire row has proved the main stumbling block to a final deal on a unity government, which had seemed close to being clinched earlier in the week.
More talks were being held on Thursday in an attempt to get the coalition off the ground.
But national security adviser Nikola Dimitrov said the PDP's demands would not be met.
"If the PDP's ceasefire condition envisages a stop in defending the country, it would be unacceptable," he said.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman insisted that the military operation would continue until the rebels were finally eliminated.
Civilians stranded
The villages of Slupcane and nearby Vakcince have been coming under heavy bombardment from Macedonian troops and tanks supported by helicopters.
Macedonian forces have continued to shell rebel strongholds
The continued unrest in the area has left some 2,000 civilians marooned in the hills north of Kumanovo, toward the Kosovo border.
The army had called on the villagers to evacuate early on Wednesday morning, but few responded.
The Macedonian forces have accused the rebels of using the civilians as human shields.
'No surrender'
But rebel leader Commander Sokoli dismissed the claims.
"There are 30,000 civilians in this area. How could we possibly keep them hostage against their will?" he asked.
The rebels pledged to fight on and insisted that they also must be allowed a role in negotiations to end the crisis.
"The government has to face reality," said Commander Sokoli. "It has to face us."
About 7,000 villagers - mostly ethnic Albanian women, children and old men - have fled the area in the past few days and correspondents say hundreds of families are spending their nights in cellars.
Macedonia's plans for a "grand coalition" briefly appeared to have been agreed on Tuesday, but it emerged that the PDP had agreed to join only if the ceasefire came into effect.
Albanian demands
The PDP wants a total halt to shelling, a withdrawal of all combatants, and a phased return of police under foreign monitoring.
The remaining parties are struggling to keep alive the prospects for a government of national unity.
The spokesman for the largest Macedonian Slav party, the VMRO, acknowledged that the coalition's formation would have to be postponed at least until next week.
Macedonian bombardment throws coalition into disarray Posted May 9, 2001
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Thursday May 10, 1:10 AM
Macedonian bombardment throws coalition into disarray
SKOPJE, May 9 (AFP) -
Talks to formalise a Macedonian government of national unity were deadlocked Wednesday as an ethnic Albanian opposition group stepped back in protest at the army's shelling of northern villages.
Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski's government announced Tuesday that it had reached an agreement on forming a multi-ethnic coalition to ward off the risk of civil war, but talks stumbled Wednesday as the fighting continued.
As army guns and tanks pounded villages snatched last week by the self-styled National Liberation Army (NLA), the Party for Democratic Prosperity said it will refuse to take part if no ceasefire is announced in three days.
The PDP had demanded a unilateral army ceasefire as the price for its co-operation, and signalled Wednesday that despite government offers of a temporary pause in the shelling it was not ready to confirm it participation.
"Our attitude is negative for the time being since one of our preconditions for participation was that the bombardment ends in the Kumanovo region," said PDP Secretary General Muhamed Halili.
"In three days things should become clear and we will take a decision, negative or positive, on our participation in a broad coalition," said Halili.
"We want the bombardments to end, to safeguard the population and create the conditions for peace," he added.
He said the government had promised a "short ceasefire" Tuesday, when the coalition was announced, which had "not been respected". An AFP reporter in the rebel held area reported intense bombardments Wednesday.
A government source told AFP that it had offered a 72-hour ceasefire to give rebels time lay down their arms and allow security forces to retake the villages.
But Georgi Spasov, a member of the main Macedonian Slav opposition SDSM party who is tipped to become defence minister if a coalition deal is reached, said on television that no such ceasefire offer was on the table.
"The question of a ceasefire has not been discussed and that is not going to happen," he said.
The unwieldy coalition was announced after NATO Secretary General George Robertson and EU foreign policy supremo Javier Solana pressured Skopje during a visit Monday.
The national unity government is made up of the two former ruling partners, the Georgievski's Slav Macedonian VMRO-DPMNE and the Democratic Party of Albanians, as well as the two main opposition groups, the SDSM and the PDP.
The international community welcomed the move, which averted a high-risk government plan of declaring a state of war and introducing tough security measures, but acknowleged the wide political differences between the partners.
The PDP, which wants the guerrillas to take part in a political dialogue to address the Albanian minority's grievances, said the international community should be called in to negotiate a ceasefire with the rebels.
They deny, however, that they are the rebels' political representatives.
"We do not have sufficient contact to convince the NLA to end the war," Halili said.
The Slav Macedonian parties are hotly opposed to any contact with the rebels, whom they call terrorists, and prefer to pursue a dual policy of political dialogue with community leaders as well as an army offensive.
The ethnic Albanian parties share the rebels' declared aim of upgrading their minority status under Macedonia's constitution to a national people, with equal linguistic and cultural rights as the Slavs, but have distanced themselves from the violence.
Albanians say they make up a third of the population of two million, although Skopje says the figure is closer to a quarter. The Slav Macedonian majority, which is mostly Orthodox Christian, constitutes around 66 percent.
The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said that almost 8,000 people had fled the combat zone since the army -- which accuses the guerrillas of using civilians as a human shield -- started hammering the northern villages last Thursday.
It launched its latest offensive after a week which saw 10 security officers killed by the NLA, which took control of an area close to the border area of southern Serbia, where anotehr armed Albanina group operates.
Macedonian army guns also destroyed a car belonging to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) during the early morning ceasefire.
The defence ministry admitted an army shell destroyed the armoured Land Rover -- which was white and clearly marked as a press vehicle -- in the village of Slupcane.