[ALBSA-Info] US Envoy on Macedonia

[Agron Alibali]

 RFE/RL: U.S. ENVOY SLAMS MACEDONIAN MANIPULATION OF TERROR TRAGEDY...

RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 5, No. 179, Part II, 20 September 2001
U.S. ENVOY SLAMS MACEDONIAN MANIPULATION OF TERROR TRAGEDY...
James Pardew, the U.S. special envoy in Macedonia, told
Reuters in Skopje on 20 September that the Macedonian
authorities have sought political gain from the terrorist
tragedy in the U.S. by trying to place the ethnic Albanian
guerrillas on the same footing with the terrorists who
attacked the U.S. (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 September 2001
and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 18 September 2001). Pardew said:
"Comparisons between what happened in Macedonia and the
events in the United States last week are completely false. I
am informing the government that we object to the use of the
tragedy for local political advantage or to attempt to delay
or disrupt the peace process ongoing in Macedonia." PM

...SAYS THAT U.S. POLICY IS UNCHANGED. Pardew also told
Reuters in Skopje on 20 September that "there have been
public statements [in Macedonia] about the U.S. reevaluating
its position in Macedonia based on what happened in New York,
and we see that as an attempt to delay or disrupt the peace
process by redefining the situation here.... I am advising
Macedonian leaders that there is no change to U.S. policy
toward Macedonia based on the tragic events last week. I am
telling them that we stand completely behind the framework
peace agreement and its 45-day timetable for implementation."
Pardew stressed that "the international community will not
forgive any people in Macedonia who seek to delay, distort,
or disrupt parliamentary endorsement of the framework
agreement or who seek to return to the hills to threaten
violence." PM


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