[ALBSA-Info] Macedonia shuts Kosovo border after soldiers killed

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Macedonia shuts Kosovo border after soldiers killed

By Philippa Fletcher
  
SKOPJE, March 4 (Reuters) - Macedonia closed its border with Kosovo and held 
crisis talks with NATO and U.N. officials from the Serbian province after 
three Macedonian soldiers were killed in guerrilla attacks close to the 
frontier on Sunday. 

In a clear change of line by Western officials, the Organisation for Security 
and Cooperation in Europe said it would "understand" any armed action by 
Macedonia against ethnic Albanian fighters operating in a border village on 
Macedonian territory. 

NATO-led peacekeepers had previously urged the government of multi-ethnic 
Macedonia not to respond with force, fearing violence could spread. 

About one third of the former Yugoslav republic's population is ethnic 
Albanian, culturally close to the Albanian majority across the border in 
Kosovo. 

OSCE Ambassador Carlo Ungaro said Macedonia's security was clearly being 
threatened but that he hoped any action would be taken in cooperation with 
KFOR, the NATO-led peacekeeping force in neighbouring Kosovo. 

"We appreciate the restraint shown by Macedonia's army and police to two 
weeks of provocation," he said by telephone. 

"After today's turn of events we will understand and support a reasonable 
military response by the army and police to try to control the situation." 

An OSCE statement issued later said a joint OSCE, European Union Monitoring 
Mission, UN refugee agency and British embassy patrol had encountered a 
Macedonian army vehicle on Sunday morning which had just hit a landmine. 

"One soldier was killed; a second succumbed later due to severe injuries," 
the statement said. A police source said a third soldier had died after being 
shot by a sniper. 

SHELLING SEEN 

U.S. troops have stepped up their monitoring of the other side of the border 
in Kosovo since a firefight between the guerrillas and Macedonian security 
forces near the border village of Tanusevci a week ago. 

"We observed shelling and weapon fire between 11 and 11.30 a.m. (1000-1030 
GMT) this morning," U.S. Captain Marcus Evans told Reuters on Sunday in the 
Kosovo village of Debelde. 

Two KFOR helicopters and a pilotless reconaissance plane flew over the area. 

A villager in Debelde said an ethnic Albanian in Tanusevci was injured in an 
exchange of fire on Sunday morning. 

Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski met KFOR commander Carlo Cabigiosu and 
Hans Haekkerup, head of the U.N. Mission in Kosovo, travelled to the 
Macedonian capital on Sunday to discuss the next move. 

KFOR said it would issue a statement after the talks. 

Macedonia has rung the alarm bells over the past few days, calling for 
international help to deal with violence it says threatens its own fragile 
ethnic balance and Europe as a whole. 

Diplomats say KFOR has only a back-up logistical mission in Macedonia which 
is not authorised to take any military action. 

(Additional reporting by Shaban Buza in Debelde and Elizaveta Konstantinova 
in Skopje)