Albanian rebels told to flee or die Posted March 21, 2001
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,460380,00.html
Albanian rebels told to flee or die
Macedonian army threatens a ground offensive backed by air strikes as reinforcements are ferried into Tetovo, near the Kosovan border
Special report: Macedonia
Rory Carroll in Germo
Wednesday March 21, 2001
The Guardian
Macedonian tanks joined artillery in blasting ethnic Albanian guerrillas yesterday after the army issued an ultimatum to flee or face an all-out assault.
An army statement last night gave the rebels 24 hours to retreat from their mountain positions above the Macedonian town of Tetovo and stop firing. Otherwise, a ground offensive and air strikes would start at midnight tonight.
The rebels say they are fighting for more rights for the ethnic Albanian community in Macedonia. But Macedonia says they are separatists seeking to unite with mainly Albanian Kosovo, from where most of their supplies come.
Brush fires ignited by shells sent smoke plumes above Macedonia's second city but the self-styled National Liberation Army appeared to hold its ground, six days after it dug in.
Troop transports ferried reinforcements into the northern outskirts to prepare for the attack, on which the government has staked its credibility. Morale at police checkpoints seemed high but doubts remained over the reliability of the state's poorly trained conscript army. Around 40% of its soldiers are Albanian, each one considered a potential deserter.
Villagers in the arc of territory controlled by the rebels vowed to wage a long war if "invaded" by security forces.
In the capital, Skopje, however, two moderate Albanian parties agreed to enter the government to try to isolate the insurgents.
"We condemn the use of force for political gains - there is no place for something like that in civilised democratic states," read the declaration signed by the Democratic Albanian party and the Democratic Prosperity party.
Violence can be "tragic for us as Macedonian citizens and for the entire region" , it said.
Arben Xhafari, whose Democratic Albanian Party is a member of the Slav-dominated government coalition, denied rumors that his party was leaving the government - but warned it might do so later if violence intensified.
He said the government had not fully involved his party in the decision-making process, and said it was "totally dissatisfied with the amount of [government] force being used" against the rebels.
In the rebel-held village of Germo, a cafe erupted in nervous laughter when TV news reported the deadline. Rebels said it changed nothing.
Mule trains with supplies of food and guns were crossing the Sha mountains until nightfall.
Government tanks moved into the city on Monday, and the spokesman for the government, Antonio Milosovski, had pledged "definite action", saying that field commanders would give the attack order soon. In turn, Nato pledged to "starve" the rebels by cutting supply lines from Kosovo.
As the government barrage started, an armoured personnel carrier parked at a junction joined in, shooting at farmhouses on the hillside north of Tetovo.
Hours earlier, the rebels had published their demands for negotiations. "We are determined to realise our demands, and urge Macedonian authorities and non-government figures to make public as soon as possible if they want this to be resolved peacefully or not," they said in a communique.
"Macedonia's ignorant view and hypocritical disrespect of the demands and the patience of Albanians has surpassed all limits," it said. "We urge the international community to recognize our demands which are for peace, not for war."
The statement, signed "National Liberation Army - Tetovo branch," ended with a warning that if talks were rejected, "we will bear no responsibility for the future chain of events."
Earlier yesterday the Macedonian president, Boris Trajkovski, said there would be "no negotiations" with the rebels. The EU security affairs chief, Javier Solana, said said in Skopje that refusal to negotitate was justified, adding: "The terrorists have to be isolated. All of us have to condemn and isolate them."
Macedonia Rebels Offer Unilateral Cease-fire Posted March 21, 2001
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010321/ts/balkans_leadall_dc_9.html
Wednesday March 21 2:40 PM ET
By Douglas Hamilton
SKOPJE (Reuters) - Ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Macedonia Wednesday offered an unlimited, unilateral cease-fire to permit talks on a peaceful solution to the crisis threatening civil war in the former Yugoslav republic.
The offer came just hours before the expiration of a Macedonian government ultimatum to the rebels to give up their positions or face a full-scale offensive by the army anytime after midnight.
``We think it is better to talk rather than start a fight between the two peoples because blood will be shed and then there will be no room for talks,'' said Ali Ahmeti, the political spokesman for the National Liberation Army (NLA).
``In order to pave the way for a peaceful solution, the NLA declares an unlimited, unilateral cease-fire,'' he told Kosovo's RTK television, broadcast from Pristina.
Ahmeti said the guerrillas would not abandon their positions in the mountainous hinterland behind the republic's second city, Tetovo, scene of heavy bombardment by government forces for the past week.
``We shall respond to force if fired upon,'' he added.
Senior government spokesmen in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, learning of the truce proposal, declined to offer any immediate comment.
Nato Shootout With Gunmen
Macedonia earlier said the ethnic Albanian rebels showed no sign of heeding the ultimatum to give up or get out.
In Brussels, NATO (news - web sites) said it would send more troops to southern Kosovo to help cut off guerrilla supply routes across the border of the restive Serbian province into Macedonia, which is faced with its worst crisis since independence from old socialist Yugoslavia a decade ago.
A German patrol of the Kosovo KFOR peacekeeping mission exchanged fire overnight with gunmen caught trying to smuggle weapons into Macedonia by mule-back. The shipment was seized but the gunmen escaped over the frontier.
In the capital Skopje, one policeman died and another was wounded after being shot at a shopping mall, a police source said.
It was not known whether the incident was linked to the fighting near the border with Kosovo but it looked certain to further raise tension in the ethnically mixed Balkan state.
A tense calm descended in Tetovo after the government on Tuesday gave the guerrillas 24 hours to surrender or leave the territory of the state rattled by a week-old conflict which has triggered fears of a new Balkan war.
``The ultimatum is being respected by our side but there has been no sign that they are retreating,'' government spokesman Antonio Milosovski told reporters.
``This ultimatum will be the first and last words spoken to the terrorists, after which we will speak with them in a manner everyone speaks to terrorists,'' he said before the truce offer.
Non-Combatants At Risk
Macedonian forces have pounded hillsides overlooking the city of 70,000 since guerrillas moved in a week ago and began shooting at police. But they have not advanced up the slopes.
The rebels say they are fighting to improve the rights of the large ethnic Albanian minority in Slav-dominated Macedonia, and to ``defend'' people in the mountain villages they occupy.
The guerrillas control a handful of ethnic Albanian communities in the hinterland, and there are fears among Western powers that non-combatants could be in extreme peril if trapped in a battle involving heavy weapons.
There was no sign of a mass exodus from the mountains into Tetovo Wednesday afternoon, and no news of civilian movements within the remote Kosovo border area.
U.S. military unmanned surveillance aircraft have been providing images to the Macedonian authorities, partly with an eye to avoiding civilian casualties if it comes to a battle.
World powers have condemned the guerrillas, warning that there will be ``zero tolerance'' of any deliberate ethnic violence in the volatile Balkans.
Washington says NATO is looking into giving Macedonia more military aid and European Union (news - web sites) security chief Javier Solana said Tuesday Macedonia should not negotiate with the rebels.
The territory the rebels hold is spacious and remote. They have been using Kosovo as a rear supply base, but NATO has now started making good on promises to cut that route off.
Some 14,000 people have fled their homes in Macedonia to escape the fighting, with half crossing into Albania. Most went to friends and family, relief organizations said.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said in Skopje that the West's tolerance of ethnic Albanian separatism had helped fuel the conflict in Macedonia.
``Their aim is crystal clear -- to get the West started talking about ethnic cleansing, mass repression of the civilian population and disproportionate use of force -- and then the Kosovo variant which we well know.''
But the NATO allies, frustrated by ethnic Albanian extremists, have made abundantly clear that there is not going to be any ``Kosovo Part Two'' bombing on behalf of any party.
Macedonia (FYROM): Amnesty International urges respect for human rights of all communities Posted March 21, 2001
http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/WebAll/07EA453E3618871E80256A15004573EB?OpenDocument
AI Index: EUR 65/001/2001
Publish date: 20/03/2001
"All parties to the escalating conflict in Macedonia must respect the human rights of the Macedonian, Albanian and minority communities", said Amnesty International today as the Macedonian military prepares today for a major attack on ethnic Albanian armed groups surrounding the city of Tetovo.
Amnesty International expressed its concern at the recent escalation of violence in Macedonia, and cautioned all parties involved to respect international human rights and humanitarian law which forbids the murder and torture of civilians, and the taking of hostages. "After almost 10 years of continuous war in the region, neither the people of Macedonia nor the wider region want to see a repetition of the human rights violations associated with armed conflict", Amnesty International stated.
The organization's current principal concern is for the increasing numbers of people who are seeking refuge from the violence by leaving Macedonia. "The primary victims of previous wars in the region have been civilians - over two million of whom are still displaced from their homes or live as refugees without a durable solution. Although there have been no deliberate attacks to date on civilians in Macedonia, refugees - including a large number of women and children - are already fleeing Macedonia to seek international protection from the anticipated human rights violations".
The majority of refugees are ethnic Albanians who have fled the region around Tetovo; unconfirmed numbers of Macedonians have also left the area heading for Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that an estimated 1,600 refugees have crossed the border into Albania - some heading for Italy - while a further 480 people have entered Kosovo. Unconfirmed reports from the Serbian Red Cross suggest that an estimated 1,500 people have fled to southern Serbia, apparently on their way to Bosnia and Croatia, while Bulgarian government sources have reported that up to 2,000 people - mainly women and children - have entered Bulgaria on their way to Turkey.
Background
Violent attacks have increased in the country since the killing of a Macedonian policeman during a grenade attack on the police station at Tearce on 22 January 2001. A previously unknown armed opposition group - the National Liberation Army (NLA) - claimed responsibility for the incident. Subsequent clashes between armed groups of ethnic Albanians and the Macedonian security force near Tanusevci, in which three Macedonian soldiers were killed led to the Macedonian government's closure of the country's borders and saw the violence spread to Tetovo, a predominantly ethnic Albanian city in western Macedonia.
ALERT! VOA-RILINDJA JOURNALIST ARRESTED IN SKOPJE! Posted March 21, 2001
From: balkanreport.com
ONE POLICEMAN KILLED, ONE WOUNDED IN SKOPJE; TWO JOURNALISTS ARRESTED
Shkup, 21 mars
Today afternoon in Shkupi vicinity of Jahja Pasha, close to local shopping mall Caircanja, unknown person killed one policeman and wounded another. Ministry of Interior shared no other information in the incident. Jahja Pasha is blocked by heavy police forces. We learned that many citizens have been arrested, including the correspondent of the Voice of America Isak Ramadani and the correspondent of Prishtina daily newspaper Rilindja Bedri Sadiku. They were arrested in their office, which is located close to the site where the shooting occurred.
SHELLING OF GJERME, SELCE AND DRENOVEC (FAKTI 03/21/2001) Posted March 21, 2001
Macedonian security forces have intensified the shelling of villages Gjermë, Sellcë and Drenovec. Witnesses reported that house had been torched and civilians are fleeing the site. There are no reports on eventual victims.
POLICE SHOOTING AT CIVILIANS (FAKTI 03/21/2001) Posted March 21, 2001
During the fights in Drenovec, Macedonian police has also opened fire against the civilian population in the vicinity. The claims were later on confirmed by few TV reports that showed police shooting at an old man and after that a young boy, not older than 10 years. The TV report proved that security forces in Tetova are not waging war only against NLA.
DPA on the situation in Tetova: STOP THE VIOLENCE AGAINST LOCAL POPULATION (FAKTI 03/21/2001) Posted March 21, 2001
Arben Xhaferi and Menduh Thaci organized a press conference and presented the party standings regarding the latest situation. “We presented our standings to Javier Sollana, stressing that the crisis has a local origin, not from abroad as some claim,” Xhaferi declared. “”We requested from Solana the opening of a quality dialogue in order to solve the problems. We signed an agreement (together with PDP), requesting a peaceful way out of the crisis, through democratic means and a dialogue. We made our remarks regarding to extensive use of force, as many private houses were destroyed and the situation is only going for worse. We are not satisfied with the present relations in the Government and we demand a bigger participation in the process of establishing peace. We are outraged by the uncontrolled use of force against the population and we demand to stop the violence. We are not leaving the Government, but we want to be equal on vital issue that the Government is deciding upon. We must certainly avoid the Yugoslav model of using violence,” Xhaferi stated. “We have not moved out of the institutions. But we are stressing that there is a crisis in the decision making process. We signed an Agreement, requesting ceasefire,” Thaci said, stressing his discontent with the violence use by security forces. “Tetova has been terrorized for few days now. We appeal to stop the war and immediately open a dialogue with relevant Albanian factors.”
GOSHINCA, LLUKARA SHELLED FOR THREE DAYS (FAKTI 03/21/2001) Posted March 21, 2001
The situation in Likova municipality has additionally aggravated due to the non-stop shelling of one part of this municipality by the Macedonian Army and Police, i.e. shelling against Goshinca, Llukara, Breza and Malina. Likova Mayor Husamedin Halili confirmed the reports. Security forces are based in Qafa Strimes and Ramno. Attacks caused panic in the civilian population, meanwhile that at least three houses were fully destroyed. The Mayor denies the speculation of Macedonian media, according to which he had been helping the mobilization of young Albanians to NLA.
BE CAREFUL WITH TERMS YOU ARE USING (FAKTI 03/21/2001) Posted March 21, 2001
Albanian has requested from the Government of RM not to use military means in solving the crisis in northwest Macedonia. Albanian minister of Foreign Affairs Paskal Milo declared yesterday that Skopje must not use religious labeling in explaining the nature of this conflict. ”Tirana wants Skopje to demonstrate the same self-control as they had been doing so far. We persist on finding a political solution and opening of a dialogue with forces that represent Albanians in RM. That includes the forces that were voted in election, but not excluding all representatives of the Albanians.” “What is happening now in Macedonia should not be described in strong and unacceptable terms that prove nervousness. Don’t try to explain the tensions with religious terms. Albanians proved that they never used that in their struggle for own rights,” Milo said.
NLA: “WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN DIVIDING MACEDONIA” (FAKTI 03/21/2001) Posted March 21, 2001
NLA soldiers promise to continue their struggle until dialogue with Macedonia opens. This was the statement of NLA Commander Sadri Ahmeti to VOA, given via phone from Tetova. “The negotiations will begin sooner or later.” "The international community founds itself unprepared regarding our reaction, which led to so many critics and even hasty reactions.” "We don’t want Great Albania, we don’t want to violate international laws or change borders. All we want is to solve the internal problems in Macedonia." Ahmeti says stressing that "NLA wants to avoid civic war. “For that reason, we will not attack towns, unless we are forced into such act. Until then, we will stay and keep our positions in the hills. NLA officer assured that “we are Albanians from Macedonia, but we also have in NLA Albanian volunteers from Kosova.” “So far we had 4 killed and 10 wounded. Our structures enable us to face the actions of ARM.”
WE WON’T TOLERATE ANYMORE INSULTS AGAINST OUR NATIONAL DIGNITY (FAKTI 03/21/2001) Posted March 21, 2001
“The ignorant stand of Macedonian authorities towards the Albanian demands and the loosing of patience has grown beyond any level of tolerance by the Albanian population, which had been insulted, discriminated and pushed aside all forms of a civilized living for decades now. These were the reasons that forced the Albanians to reach for arms in their struggle for own rights.” “We had been deceived for years now, that our rights can be obtained with changing Governments or that the morbid Macedonian policy would change its course. It was useless to vote this President of the State (Trajkovski), hoping that he would be a president for all. We gave enough time to all of them to send clear sign that they accept Albanians as equal citizens. However, this never happened and we decided not to allow them to continue with their insults against our national dignity and moral by the old and blind structures that suffer from own national frustrations.” “We appeal to internal and foreign factors to make a clear definition of people that fight for being equal with others, as such people cannot be named terrorists. We’re no adventurers either, as our lives or not that cheep so one can play poker with them.”
KOHA DITORE: RATIONAL AND DANGEROUS Posted March 21, 2001
Former Kosovar leader Mahmut Bakalli's reaction to Macedonian Prime Minister's statement. "The Macedonian Prime Minister's statement is irrational, untrue and very dangerous for Macedonia because it makes enemies of the Albanian people and does not accept negotiations to prevent the conflict," Mahmut Bakalli, said reacting to Lupco Georgievski's statement in which he accused Kosovo, American and German troops for the turmoil in Macedonia. "This statement also makes enemies of Albanian political parties in Macedonia because it does not accept any kind of negotiations on constitutional changes and on changes in the status of the Albanian people in Macedonia which is needed to calm down the situation there". Third it makes enemies of western countries, and especially the USA and Germany, because they do not accept that events in Macedonia are an aggression from Kosovo". "Georgievski insists that he or his government will not resign and thus help peace in Macedonia or continue an endless and dangerous war," said Bakalli. He added, "It is meaningless for the PDSH (Albanian Democratic Party) to remain in coalition as long as this position is taken by the government," said Bakalli.
ZËRI: GENESIS OF THE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS LIE IN SKOPJE Posted March 21, 2001
The Kosovar Albanian political leaders have strongly refuted accusations of Kosovars involvement in the Macedonian conflict, especially the accusations made by the Macedonian Prime Minister Georgievski. According to LDK deputy Chairman Naim Jerliu accusations regarding "Kosovo's aggression against Macedonia" are untrue. He stressed that the conflict in FYROM was a result of problems that had accumulated through the years, which the Macedonian government had not solved. "Instead of making accusations, the Macedonian government must urgently begin talks with the Albanians to fulfill their fair demands, which is the only way to prevent the situation from worsening and not escalating. If this does not happen, it would be dangerous for everyone, not just Macedonia", he said. According to Jerliu, this habit of making accusations against Kosovo is the old tendency of making Kosovars and the Albanians appear as the destabilization factors. This way the Macedonian government intends to show that its own problems are really emanating from Kosovo and thus implicate Kosovo to hide its own inability and irresponsibility to solve the problems. Reiterating that the only message Kosovo gave since the beginning of the conflict in Macedonia was one of peace and to begin the talks, Jerliu said that the sooner the talks begin, the better it is for Macedonia and the Albanians there who want a democratic Macedonia. Even the PDK shares the same opinion. Georgievski's accusations have no basis. A member of the party's chairmanship Ramadan Avdiu stated that Georgievski's statement was unacceptable. Since the first signs of the Macedonian crisis, the political parties had appealed to the Macedonian authorities to manage this crisis for it not to escalate into a conflict and to take all political and democratic measures to solve the problems. According to Avdiu, Georgievski's statement is untrue because it also seeks to implicate the international community along with the Albanian political parties in the Macedonian crisis, adding that the Macedonian crisis was an internal one and should be solved in democratically and not by violence, which would raise tensions. No one wants this, especially not the Kosovo Albanians. The announcement of the name of the UÇK political representative would have helped to begin talks with this militant organization. However, Macedonian Prime Minister Georgievski refused to hold these talks. According to Avdiu, starting a dialogue depended on the will and attitude of the Macedonian authorities. "In case the Macedonians do not hold a dialogue and use political measures and instead follow the road to violence, there is a saying that violence begets violence. Therefore, we appeal for holding the talks and we welcome the statement of Macedonian president Trajkovski. He said that it is better to talk one thousand days than fight one day. However, the Macedonians have begun to behave the way we saw in Kosovo not long ago and this does not seem as if they are willing to sit and solve the problems politically", stated Avdiu. A harsh reaction to Georgievski's accusations came from the AAK as well. The Secretary General of this alliance Ahmet Isufi said that Kosovo has nothing to do with the armed conflict in Macedonia. "Kosovo has nothing to do with the developments in Macedonia. Kosovo sees Macedonia as a neighboring state, which should grant the Albanians equality with the Macedonians." The LPK chairman Emrush Xhemajli, about whose involvement in the Macedonian conflict rumors have been circulating, sees dialogue as a key to solving the conflict in Macedonia. In a meeting with the representative of the French Office in Pristina, Etienne Dubern, regarding the latest developments in Macedonia, Xhemajli said, "the key to the problems is with the authorities in Skopje". He said that the problems have accumulated for a long time and Macedonia's unwillingness to face the reality has resulted in the conflict escalating. "The initiatives from abroad and the pressure on the Macedonian side are necessary to make the Macedonians talk to the Albanian side and consider redefining the internal relations between the two communities", concluded Xhemajli.
KOHA DITORE: AT AN UNSERIOUS SPEECH FOR A PRIME MINISTER Posted March 21, 2001
By Adriatik Kelmendi
"2: 0 for Georgievski!" "The Prime Minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia with his controversial statement during his address to the nation, has managed to tell two simple things: one, that there is no easy solution to the crisis which is engulfing the country; and two, that in the near future he is not even planning to undertake efforts in that direction". "By trying to distort the truth, first before people of his nationality who are asking for arms in front of his presidency, and then to the international community that has begun seeing the real reasons for the armed rebellion, he threw the ball into his neighbor's yard, thus trying to save himself". "Georgievski harshly accused Kosovo and its political parties calling them 'aggressors' in this former Yugoslav republic and also 'condemned' the US and Germany in a manner that gives the impression that everything that is going on has the agreement of those governments". "What did Georgievski try to achieve with this?" "Yes, his goal is quite transparent - a manipulation with responsibility and conscience". "If he had talked sincerely to an ordinary Albanian living in the country he is in charge of, it is quite difficult to believe that he would use such phrases as in the responsible speech he gave Sunday". "Has the Macedonian Prime Minister ever asked himself how does an Albanian in Macedonia feel when the teacher at school asks from him to refer to the capital of the country differently from the name he uses for it at home?" "Has the Macedonian Prime Minister ever asked himself why such a large number of Albanians are forced to seek work out of the country, a thing which has not happened with their neighbors who speak a different language?" "Has the Macedonian Prime Minister ever asked himself why the Albanians in his country work in unimportant social sectors, while their neighbors who speak a different language are always in managerial positions in the administration, a fact which turns the neighbours into dependants?" "Has the Macedonian Prime Minister ever asked himself how does an Albanian feel when he cannot go to the university in his country to study in his own language and is forced to do so in Kosovo or Albania, but at the end of it all his effort is useless because the diploma is simply a decoration on the wall?" "Or has the Macedonian Prime Minister ever imagined how it is to live in the skin of one man who feels as a foreigner in his own country?" "However, another error made during the majestic speech was implicating the US and Germany in the FYROM crisis. Surely even the most naive person would know the simple fact, that this fragile country existed thanks to the support and the persistence of the two countries". "Did the Macedonian Prime Minister ever understand this open secret?" "If up to this moment this has not crossed his mind, then his statement, which has been assessed as ridiculous, is quite understandable". "One thing though remains difficult to understand: where will Macedonia get to with such political logic".
Discrimination: The Macedonian Citizenship Law Posted March 21, 2001
"Despite government promises to reform Macedonia's overly exclusive 1992 citizenship law in line with Council of Europe standards, the law remained unchanged. Drafted at the time of its independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Macedonia's citizenship law never adequately resolved the status of the significant number of Yugoslav citizens who were long-term residents in Macedonia but who were neither born in Macedonia nor ethnic Macedonian. Large numbers of ethnic Albanians, Turks, and Roma who knew no other home than Macedonia remained effectively stateless as a result of the law."
http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/europe/macedonia.html
Albanian Rebels Threaten to Expand Fighting Posted March 21, 2001
Full article:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010320/wl/balkans_leadall_dc_56.html
"Ethnic Albanian guerrilla forces in Macedonia said Tuesday they were confident of resisting a government onslaught and threatened to expand fighting into the country's second city of Tetovo.
The commander, codenamed Skopje, told Reuters his forces will ignore a government deadline to quit their mountain positions by midnight Wednesday.
``Morale is high, our ammunition is plentiful and our casualties light,'' he said by telephone from a rebel-held location in the hills.
Skopje threatened to take the fighting into the streets of Macedonia's second city, Tetovo, where Macedonian troops have been pounding the hillsides for a week in a bid to drive the rebel force back.
``Unless direct talks with the government start soon we will be expanding our operations into new territory,'' he added."
Macedonia Villagers, Rebels Unite Posted March 21, 2001
Full article:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010320/wl/macedonia_on_the_front_1.html
"A rebel proclamation Monday demanded the Slav-led government open a dialogue on greater ethnic Albanian rights. The cost of refusal: a possible civil war that could engulf the only former Yugoslav republic to reach independence without bloodshed."
"Macedonian leaders have consistently dismissed the rebels as a small band of guerrillas that can be stamped out with military might or starved into submission. It could turn out to be a major miscalculation. The front-line villages suggest the beginning of a strong and widespread movement among Macedonia's ethnic Albanians for greater control of their affairs."
"For the moment, the murkiness of the rebels' objective actually seems to pull in support. Ethnic Albanians see them crusading against their own specific gripes, which are plentiful in a nation where Slavs comprise a majority that controls the government, armed forces and most institutions."
"Ethnic Albanians complain they are being forced to emigrate for work because Slavs monopolize good jobs; that they face harassment; and that they must pay bribes to get official documents that should be free."
``It's like the civil rights movement for blacks in America,'' said Bejeti in the rebel-held village of Gagre. ``On paper, it looks like we have it fine. In practice, it's different.''
Iso Rusi: The Guns Arrive in Macedonia Posted March 20, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/20/opinion/20RUSI.html?searchpv=nytToday&pagewanted=all
March 20, 2001
The Guns Arrive in Macedonia
By ISO RUSI
SKOPJE, Macedonia - Dear friend, what's happening?" begins the e-mail message Goran Stefanovski, the playwright, sent me from the little English village where he now lives. He is not alone in wondering why Macedonia, the only ex-Yugoslav republic that gained its independence without a shot - an "oasis of peace," as we have told ourselves - is at the edge of war.
For the last six days there has been an almost-war around our second- largest city, Tetovo, 25 miles west of here. I've heard from Artan Skenderi, the owner of TV ART in Tetovo, several times a day. The first day he called to let me hear the shooting from the hill of Kale, almost in the city center. The second day, noticeably down, he talked of disaster. People were leaving town.
And on the third day shells exploded on the forested slopes overlooking the city and gunfire crackled along a widening front line.
In Skopje, Macedonians who had fled Tetovo gathered at the Parliament building. "Tetovo is a Macedonian town, and so it will remain," said President Boris Trajkovski. "You must go back there and live together with the Albanians." The crowd was of Slavic, not Albanian, Macedonians, a crowd that kept shouting, "Give us weapons, give us weapons!"
Tetovo is also being deserted by ethnic Albanians, fleeing to Albania, Western Europe or Turkey, where they have relatives. There are five times as many ethnic Albanian refugees as ethnic Slav refugees, Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski said in his address to the nation Sunday. Mr. Georgievski reiterated his government's position that the crisis had been initiated by Kosovars. "It is aggression coming from Kosovo, and we have proof," he said, adding that the Americans and the Germans know "who the terrorist leaders are and what they want" and could stop them if they liked.
Who are the men clashing with Macedonian forces closer and closer to Tetovo? In an interview, Fazli Veliu, who is said to be the political leader of Macedonia's ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army, said, "We support the integrity of Macedonia, because we feel that Macedonia cannot exist without Albanians."
Communique Number Six sets out in detail his army's political aims. It calls for international mediation of the conflict and a new Macedonian constitution that would stress that Macedonian Slavs and Albanians are equal national groups in the same state. This army stresses that it does not want to damage the integrity of the Macedonian state.
The army's demands are almost identical with the demands of the existing Albanian political parties, which have been part of Macedonian parliaments and administrations since independence. Why, then, have the gunmen stepped to the fore?
Before the 1998 elections, Arben Xhaferi - leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians, which is now part of the government coalition - sought an alliance with the Party for Democratic Prosperity (the other, smaller Albanian party). Frightened by the appearance of the Kosovo Liberation Army just across our northern border, Mr. Xhaferi said Albanian parties should work together on achieving the rights of Albanians in Macedonia, and so avoid being marginalized by some radical option. But such power-sharing failed to take hold. Now we have the Macedonian National Liberation Army, which even shares an Albanian-language acronym, U.C.K., with the Kosovo Liberation Army, though their names are different.
Many local Albanians say the strengthening of an armed political force among Macedonian Albanians is the result of the corruption of D.P.A. representatives and resentment at D.P.A. retaliation against Albanians who did not support the party in the 2000 local elections. They also say they have lost patience because Macedonian authorities - including ethnic Albanian officials - have not done enough to satisfy their demands in education (especially higher education), culture, media, and use of Albanian language and national symbols.
"For 10 years we called for dialogue, but our problems were ignored," Mr. Xhaferi told Welt am Sonntag, a German newspaper. "Now, unfortunately, there is bloodshed."
"NATO must intervene quickly," he added. "Or else the Macedonian army and police will create a bloodbath." The army and police are Slav- dominated institutions.
I got off the Internet a while ago, and this sentence still whirls before my eyes: "The BBC's Nick Wood, reporting from Selce, said young men were arriving every hour to volunteer as rebel fighters with the National Liberation Army."
I go out for coffee. I am not the only one to notice the broken flower pots decorating the balcony of a pizzeria owned by an Albanian in Porta Vlae. Going through today's papers I recognize the language of hatred entering the media. Also I have again this horrid feeling that began a week or so ago, a feeling that grows beneath the looks of my Slavic Macedonian colleagues and acquaintances, who can see in me now an Albanian, though I am part Slav. They see in me a terrorist, and I see them struggling to refrain from saying something unpleasant.
Iso Rusi is editor of the Albanian-language weekly Lobi.
Wesley K. Clark: Don't Delay In Macedonia Posted March 20, 2001
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28844-2001Mar19.html
"We must make clear to the government of Macedonia that it too is under close scrutiny. The use of force alone will only worsen the underlying problem, not resolve it.
The longer-term solution rests on Macedonian commitment not just to say the right things about the Albanian minority but to follow through with actions. Discussion of the constitutional status of Macedonian Albanians and other minorities should begin without delay in Macedonia's parliament. Greater attention to underlying problems -- education, health, housing and economic opportunity -- among Macedonian Albanians is urgently required. The international community can and should help make this happen. Later this year, Macedonia will conduct a new and hotly debated census. The international community should monitor this census to make sure that it is seen to be fair and includes all who see Macedonia as their home.
The causes of Albanian discontent in Macedonia are real. But they are inflamed by a broader problem, whose effects are also destabilizing southern Serbia and Kosovo itself, and that is the crippling slowness of progress toward real self-government for the people of Kosovo."
"Kosovo's people deserve self-rule. Albanians elsewhere -- Macedonia, southern Serbia -- deserve fair and lawful treatment. It is in the profound interest of the United States and our allies to see that they get it quickly. But Kosovo's leaders and its people must show understanding that Albanians have nothing to gain -- and everything to lose -- by exporting or inflaming conflict in the Balkans."
On the Front in Macedonia: A Show of Rebels' Tenacity Posted March 20, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/20/world/20REBE.html?pagewanted=all
March 20, 2001
On the Front in Macedonia: A Show of Rebels' Tenacity
By CARLOTTA GALL
AVCE, Macedonia, March 19 — Half a dozen young men, most in camouflage uniforms and carrying Kalashnikov rifles, ducked behind the wall of a house in this deserted village today as sniper fire whizzed overhead. A rattle of automatic gunfire sounded from below.
"It's O.K., they are ours," said one of the fighters, all ethnic Albanians and part of a rapidly growing force.
The scene was only a few hundred yards from the front line, at a ruined fortress that sits on the edge of a hill overlooking Tetovo, Macedonia's second largest town. The area is the focus of heavy fighting that threatens to create a new front in the years of ethnic fighting in the Balkans, in a nation that until now has been at peace.
The few rebels in this battered town are clearly exhilarated. Two drove up in a Macedonian police car, wide-eyed at having captured it, and started dismantling the police radio. The Albanians appear to have the arms, ammunition and men they need in the drive taking shape here to take over areas of large Albanian populations. And more supplies, medicines and ammunition are arriving by horse from Macedonia.
But today the Macedonian Army deployed tanks and truckloads of troops in and around Tetovo, for what a government spokesman promised would be a "final operation" to rout the rebels. After intervening in Kosovo to protect the Albanians, NATO is now siding with the government, though offering scant military involvement.
In the past week, as the government failed to dislodge them, the rebels have grown from a handful of fighters to a force of more than 300 men, one fighter said.
Another rebel said he had worked as a truck driver in Switzerland and had returned to his home village just a week ago to take up arms.
The rebel offensive has disturbed NATO. On the other side of the mountainous border, inside Kosovo, NATO-led peacekeeping troops have been ordered to tighten security and step up patrols to prevent Albanian guerrillas and weapons from infiltrating Macedonia and aiding the rebels.
The NATO secretary general, Lord Robertson, said he had asked member countries to send more troops to Kosovo to help in the extra patrolling, although he said NATO would not seek to extend its mandate to operate inside Macedonia.
The Macedonian government has said the appearance of the rebels stems from NATO's failure to contain lawlessness and control its borders to prevent movement of weapons and men.
Military reconnaissance planes flew over the area frequently today, flying slowly and low. "We are afraid they might be NATO drones. If we can be sure they are Macedonian then we will shoot at them," said Sadri Ahmeti, 28, a spokesman for the rebels.
But inside Macedonia, a German NATO officer, part of the Macedonia- based backup to the Kosovo peacekeeping mission, watched the preparations and said he doubted the government would succeed in taking back the hill.
The rebels now have free run of six villages along the valley that rises to the snow-covered mountains, known as Sar Planina, and the border with neighboring Kosovo.
So far, there has been only one fatality in the fighting, a civilian man. Three civilians have been wounded, including a girl hit by a sniper, and seven rebels. But the fighting has increased rapidly.
More men were arriving all the time. Some were climbing over the steep mountain slopes and arriving in Selce, the rebel headquarters, to offer assistance or join the ranks of fighters. Many had left Tetovo, where the heavy military and police presence had frightened the ethnic Albanian population, and the proximity of the rebels frightened the Macedonian Slav population. A lot of volunteers were also arriving from Kosovo and Albania.
On the walk into Lavce from the rebel headquarters in a neighboring village, one fighter whistled to rebels in their positions in foxholes and lookouts on the top of crags. Silently they appeared and waved. He pointed to two villages across the narrow mountain valley that the rebels' guerrilla force, which they call the National Liberation Army, now controls after it pushed police forces out.
Fifteen men from Lavce fought in Kosovo during the Albanians' guerrilla war against Serbian forces.
"Almost all of those who fought in Kosovo are here," Mr. Ahmeti said.
Mr. Ahmeti, himself a veteran of the war in Kosovo, was uncompromising in an interview. He said the continued fighting depended on the Macedonian security forces, and if they did not want to accept the rebel demands, the rebels were ready to fight for ten years.
The National Liberation Army and some of its commanders have demanded that equality for ethnic Albanians be included in the constitution, that Albanian be made an official language in Macedonia, and that Albanians have representation in government and police structures. The Albanians make up between 25 and 30 percent of the population, and Macedonian Slavs, approximately 70 percent. Yet the police and army are dominated by Slavs, even in the Albanian-populated western part of the country.
The rebels argue that the politicians have tried for 10 years to achieve these demands through the political process, but have failed.
"We want the status that belongs to us. This is all we want. How democratic are the Macedonian Slavs?" Mr. Ahmeti said. "I am sure if they were more democratic we would not have so many problems.
"We want Macedonian forces to withdraw from our territories. I do not hate anyone, honestly. I am fighting for the liberation of my territory."
Statements from the rebels and their supporters have emphasized that they do not want to change borders, and that they respect Macedonia's territorial integrity. But Mr. Ahmeti admitted that he would like to see ethnic Albanians — who are scattered throughout the region in Macedonia, Kosovo, southern Serbia, and Montenegro, as well as Albania — live together. "Personally, I am for all Albanians living together, but we are not against international institutions, such as NATO; we do not want to fight them and lose our allies," he said.
Mr. Ahmeti is typical of the type of men taking up arms. He is from Tetovo and at the age of 16 was imprisoned for two years for painting the words "Kosovo Republic" on walls around the city and in the Macedonian capital of Skopje. A trained teacher, he had no job and went to fight in Kosovo.
"I always had a feeling that we would have to fight the Slavs, because we really have a bitter history with them," he said. "I would like it to be solved very soon, though you know when a war starts, but you never know when it will end."