[ALBSA-Info] Financial Times

[Agron Alibali]

Financial Times (London) 
May 25, 2001, Friday USA Edition 2 
Macedonia outraged by Albanian parties' amnesty deal for guerrillas 

By STEFAN WAGSTYL 


The US and the European Union yesterday denounced an agreement between Albanian guerrillas and ethnic Albanian political parties in the governing coalition in Macedonia, even though a senior US diplomat negotiated it. 

The Macedonian government has also expressed its outrage at the deal, under which the rebels agreed to withdraw in return for an amnesty and a veto over political decisions involving ethnic Albanian rights. 

The Slav-dominated government, backed by Nato, is opposed to any negotiations with the fighters, let alone agreements granting them a political role. President Boris Trajkovski yesterday urged the ethnic Albanian parties to scrap the deal or risk the collapse of the coalition. 

The US diplomat involved was Robert Frowick, who was serving as the personal envoy of Mircea Geoana, the Romanian foreign minister and current chairman of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. 

Mr Frowick has been working in Macedonia for about six weeks, helping to narrow differences between the Slav and ethnic Albanian parties. He has also been involved in efforts to persuade the guerrillas to withdraw from Macedonia into United Nations-administered Kosovo. 

OSCE officials said they did not know exactly what Mr Frowick had been doing. Mr Frowick, who hurriedly left Skopje for Bucharest, could not be contacted for comment. 

The EU said: "If anyone had any illusions that the so-called NLA (National Liberation Army) has international support anywhere, they had better forget them." 

The incident could undermine the coalition government in Macedonia which was formed less than two weeks ago under heavy international pressure. It could also damage relations between Macedonia and the international community, which has pressed Skopje to continue inter-ethnic dialogue and exercise restraint in military operations. 

Mr Frowick's role remains unclear. He has extensive knowledge of the Balkans and of international diplomacy, having joined the US foreign service in the early 1960s and been an ambassador since 1986. Macedonian officials said it was unlikely that he blundered. They pointed out that, of the western powers, the US has long been the closest to ethnic Albanian fighters, including the Kosovo Liberation Army, which enjoyed strong ties with the Central Intelligence Agency. 

Meanwhile, the Macedonian army yesterday stepped up its attacks on the guerrillas. Soldiers entered the outskirts of villages occupied by guerrillas for the past three weeks. www.ft.com/europe 



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