[ALBSA-Info] Bush troubled by Macedonia clashes with guerrillas

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Bush troubled by Macedonia clashes with guerrillas

  
WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - The United States on Monday condemned 
continuing violent attacks by ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Macedonia and 
said it was studying "non-military" ways to help the Balkan nation, even as 
NATO sent more troops to Kosovo's southern border with Macedonia. 

"The United States rejects and condemns the continuing violence from ethnic 
Albanian extremists in Macedonia. These extremists have no legitimacy and do 
not represent the vast majority of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia," State 
Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a strongly worded statement. 

The White House said President George W. Bush is concerned about clashes 
between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Macedonian forces, and Washington is 
studying "non-military" ways to help Macedonia. 

NATO said on Monday it was sending more troops to Kosovo's southern border as 
Skopje battles the rebellion by guerrillas it believes are infiltrating from 
Kosovo, where the Western security alliance has 38,000 peace-keepers station
ed. 

"The president is concerned about the actions taken by Albanian extremists 
and that's another reason why the president and NATO authorized stepped-up 
patrols of ... KFOR," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, referring to 
the Kosovo Force led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 

"The president is concerned about the level of violence there," he added. 

Boucher said the ethnic Albanian extremists were "causing serious harm to the 
interests and image of those they claim to represent in the ethnic Albanian 
community in Macedonia, Kosovo and the region." 

Ethnic Albanians make up one-third of Macedonia's 2 million population. Both 
Skopje and the West are worried about the risk of a slide toward ethnic 
conflict that could not only tear the tiny Balkan republic apart but 
ultimately drag in neighboring Bulgaria, Greece, Albania or Yugoslavia. 

On the ground in Macedonia, government tanks and truckloads of troops headed 
for the mainly ethnic Albanian city of Tetovo, where paramilitary police pou
nded rebel targets for a sixth day with mortar and machine-gun fire. 

National Security Council spokeswoman Mary Ellen Countryman said Washington 
was "looking at non-military actions" to help, adding, "We support the 
Macedonian government's efforts to defend their border." 

Boucher welcomed the Macedonian Parliament's unanimous statement on March 18 
condemning the violence, and said the United States unequivocally supported 
Macedonia's territorial integrity and the "legitimate efforts of the 
Macedonian government to protect the rule of law." 

"Political grievances of the ethnic Albanian community should be addressed 
through the democratic structures of Macedonia's multi-ethnic civil society, 
not through destabilizing violence," he said.