[ALBSA-Info] U.S. says Macedonia extremists should be isolated

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

U.S. says Macedonia extremists should be isolated

By Benet Koleka

  
TIRANA, March 14 (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday strongly 
condemned violence by armed ethnic Albanian extremists in northern Macedonia 
and said they should be isolated and crushed as soon as possible. 

The U.S. ambassador to Albania, Joseph Limprecht, told reporters Washington 
applauded Macedonia's efforts to preserve peace through the rule of law and 
inter-ethnic cooperation. 

Limprecht's comments came as fighting between ethnic Albanian rebel 
guerrillas and Macedonian security forces spread for the first time to an 
area where the Balkan country's ethnic Albanians are concentrated. 

"I would call on everybody to focus principally on the central issue...which 
is providing support to the government of Macedonia and to those elements of 
the Albanian political community...to isolate and to put down the people of 
violence, the extremists, as soon and as quickly as possible," he said. 

"It's important that there be action taken to separate them from the 
political community because their actions are not legitimate," Limprecht told 
reporters. 

"And any statements that imply that there is some sort of legitimacy to the 
extremists and acts of violence are not helpful in this situation," he added. 

Ethnic Albanian rebels last month occupied the village of Tanusevci and 
nearby areas in northern Macedonia and clashed with the police and the army, 
leaving five dead. 

They were driven out less than a week ago in a joint operation between the 
Macedonian army and NATO-led troops operating in Kosovo but the fighting in 
the Tetovo area appeared to show the guerrillas had moved in the area west of 
Tanusevci. 

The rebels' appearance caused international concern that Albanian territorial 
claims may be spreading from Kosovo and southern Serbia to Macedonia, where 
Albanian make up one third of the population, threating its stability. 

Wednesday's fighting came as several thousand radical ethnic Albanians 
rallied in Tetovo to support the rebels, who call themselves the National 
Liberation Army and say they are fighting for a better treatment of Albanians 
in Macedonia. 

Limprecht also said the United States fully supported the statements of the 
United Nations Security Council, NATO and the international community that 
called for the respect of Macedonia's sovereignty and territorial integrity. 

He praised the Albanian government of youthful Prime Minister Ilir Meta for 
its strong position in condemning the violence and encouraging ethnic 
Albanian leaders in Kosovo and Macedonia to do the same.