(Associated Press) Bush Offers Support in Macedonia

[Paola Lucchesi <paola.lucchesi at mail.inet.it>]

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010324/pl/bush_macedonia_2.html

Saturday March 24 5:29 PM ET

Bush Offers Support in Macedonia

By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration offered to help improve the
Macedonian government's military capability on Saturday, hoping to quell
the conflict with rebellious ethnic Albanian guerillas in the border
hills near Kosovo.
    Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) spoke by
telephone with the Macedonian president, Boris Trajkovski, emphasizing
the strong statement a day earlier by President Bush (news - web sites)
in support of the Macedonian government, State Department spokesman
Richard Boucher said Saturday.
    Powell told Trajkovski in a 20-minute conversation that the United
States and its NATO (news - web sites) allies were doing everything they
could on the border and that ``we would be ready to assist in improving
their military capabilities where necessary and supporting their efforts
to bolster a democratic, multiethnic state,'' Boucher said.
    But Powell also strongly condemned the violence and expressed firm
support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Macedonians
along with Trajkovski's efforts to uphold democracy and the rule of law,
according to Boucher.
    ``He deplored and condemned the actions of the extremists and he
applauded and supported the actions to uphold the coalition in Macedonia
that includes members of all ethnic groups,'' Boucher said.
    The diplomatic efforts reflect the White House's mounting concerns
that Macedonia may become a war zone like other former Yugoslav
republics. Macedonian helicopters were firing rockets near downtown
Tetovo on Saturday as fighting escalated between government forces and
rebels besieging the country's second-largest city.
    ``It's the gathering momentum of both NATO's cooperation to support
the Macedonians as well as the events on the ground,'' Boucher said.
``The concern is that ... the extremists are attempting to control
territory and carry their violence to Macedonia, and we need to help the
Macedonian government cope.''
    Powell consulted Saturday with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld
and Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites), Bush's assistant for national
security, who was keeping the president informed about the situation.
    He also spoke with Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, the supreme allied
commander in Europe, Javier Solana, the European Union (news - web
sites)'s security affairs chief, and twice with NATO Secretary-General
Lord Robertson.
    Bush said Friday night that the insurgents in Macedonia are falsely
claiming to be advancing the cause of the Albanian minority and the
rebels' violent methods ``are hurting the long-term interests of ethnic
Albanians in Macedonia, Kosovo and throughout the region.''
    The U.S. and its allies have a long-standing commitment to the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Macedonia, Bush noted. Since
the fighting began last week, some 22,000 Macedonians, both Slav and
ethic Albanian, have been uprooted.
    The rebels say they are a homegrown movement fighting for greater
rights for Macedonia's ethnic Albanian minority, which is outnumbered by
Slavs three to one.
    But the government contends they are linked to fighters across the
border in the Serbian province of Kosovo and aim to break off northern
Macedonia to form an independent ethnic Albanian state.
    The Pentagon (news - web sites) has recently ordered a unit of Air
Force ``Predator'' unmanned drones to the Balkans to increase the NATO
allies' ability to monitor the rebel activity along the Kosovo-Macedonia
border.
    The unit is composed of several spy planes and about 80 troops.
    Bush' issued his statement after conferring at the White House with
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) about Macedonia and
other issues.
    While expressing support for the Macedonian government, Annan said
Skopje authorities should take care not to exacerbate the conflict and
perhaps ``divide the society even further.''
-
On the Net: CIA (news - web sites) fact sheet on Macedonia:
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mk.html

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