(Reuters) Macedonian army strikes out as others talk peace

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

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010608/3/tngd.html
Friday June 8, 7:10 PM

Macedonian army strikes out as others talk peace
By Sean Maguire

SKOPJE (Reuters) - Macedonia's army ignored a rebel call for a ceasefire
and launched attacks on ethnic Albanian guerrilla positions on Friday,
hours before a key speech by the country's president on peace proposals.

The army began artillery and helicopter assaults in the early morning
against villages to the north-east of the capital Skopje that the rebels
have controlled for over a month.

"This action is to defeat and disperse the terrorists and to return normal
life to the villages," army spokesman Colonel Blagoje Markovski told Reuters.

Asked why the army had attacked shortly after the rebel National Liberation
Army (NLA) called a unilateral ceasefire and urged the Macedonian
government to agree a truce, Markovski said: "I don't negotiate with
terrorists."

There was speculation the attack was a show of strength for domestic
consumption by a Slav majority angered by the death of five soldiers this
week and ahead of a speech by President Boris Trajkovski that may offer
concessions to the rebels.

In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General George Robertson and Russian Defence
Minister Sergei Ivanov questioned the NLA truce.

"The call for a ceasefire may be seen by some as an olive branch but of
course it follows a fairly murderous attack a few days ago. So when you do
that and call for a ceasefire, then the response to that is: Put down your
arms permanently," Robertson said.

In the rebel-held areas, thousands of trapped civilians cowered in their
basements as shells slammed into houses.

An ethnic Albanian doctor in the village of Slupcane said the army was
confining itself to long-range bombardment and had not launched the ground
assault that would be needed to dislodge the guerrillas from their well
dug-in positions.

"The NLA are still in their places," Fatmir Hasani told Reuters by mobile
phone.

PEACE PLAN

In a major setpiece announcement Trajkovski was expected to tell his
parliament in an afternoon speech of a plan to allow the rebels to disarm
and withdraw, diplomats said. That could offer the best chance of avoiding
civil war in Macedonia.

"It foresees the NLA being prepared to lay down their weapons, leave the
area and enter Kosovo," one envoy said. The plan would not mention an
amnesty, which is unworkable under Macedonian law, but might offer relief
from prosecution.

That would be a bitter pill for the Slav majority to swallow, particularly
after the death of five soldiers this week in NLA ambushes in mountains in
northwestern Macedonia.

The deaths sparked violent riots on Wednesday in the southern city of
Bitola, home to three of the dead, which saw dozens of ethnic Albanian
homes and businesses burnt down.

A strong police presence on Thursday night kept violence at a minimum,
although tear gas had to be used to disperse a crowd outside a Macedonian
army barracks that was demanding to be given arms to let it defend the country.

SOLANA VISIT

Trajkovski's speech will be backed by European Union foreign policy chief
Javier Solana, who will emphasise to squabbling politicians the need to
improve the rights of minority Albanians and undercut support for the
rebellion.

Solana was to arrive late in the day and stay overnight to push forward
inter-ethnic dialogue, which so far has produced no concrete agreement on
addressing the grievances of the Albanians, who make up around a third of
the population.

Diplomats say the NLA is unlikely to accept Trajkovski's withdrawal plan
unless it is convinced Macedonia's Slav elite is serious about equalising
the status of the two communities.

"Nobody believes they'll pull back without reforms but they might if they
can see progress. If reforms go quickly that might be enough to persuade
them," a Western diplomat said.

The NLA says it is fighting to improve the rights of ethnic Albanians but
Macedonia says rebels want to break up the state.

Trajkovski's plan is broadly modelled on measures NATO took to persuade
ethnic Albanian rebels last month to quit an area of southern Serbia where
they mounted a 16-month insurgency.

A NATO team was in Skopje this week to outline how the amnesty and arms
plan worked in the nearby Presevo valley but the international community is
keen for the Macedonian public to perceive the Trajkovski plan as a
homegrown initiative.