Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- The Daily Telegraph "They were just shot dead in cold blood - just driving along, not in the war zone." "By the hour, we're moving from being near peace to being much nearer a state of civil war." "There is fighting in Tetovo itself. The situation is critical. Nobody's on the streets." [And, predictably] "We condemn *all* acts of violence and call upon *all* parties to refrain from any violations of the ceasefire," said Francois Leotard, the European Union's peace envoy. [emphasis added] Skopje riot after bloody ambush By Christian Jennings in Skopje (Filed: 09/08/2001) ANGRY crowds broke shop windows and set up barricades near the parliament building in Macedonia's capital, Skopje, last night, after 10 soldiers were killed by ethnic Albanian guerrillas in an ambush. Macedonian protesters take to the streets of Skopje The death count was the highest in any one incident since the rebels began an insurgency in the former Yugoslavian republic in February. An ethnic Albanian civilian was killed and two Macedonians were wounded in separate fighting in the flashpoint town of Tetovo. Previous killings of military personnel have provoked rioting by nationalist hardliners. Several of the soldiers ambushed in a military convoy west of Skopje were believed to be seriously wounded and the number of dead was expected to rise. Pihomir Ilieski, a Macedonian Foreign Ministry official, said: "They were just shot dead in cold blood - just driving along, not in the war zone." Despite the bloodshed, Western mediators said later that all the parties to peace talks had initialled a deal ahead of the expected signing on Monday of an agreement aimed at averting civil war. Past optimism about the prospects for peace have been ill-founded, and so-called ceasefires have often been marked by intense fighting. One Western security official offered a far more pessimistic assessment. "By the hour, we're moving from being near peace to being much nearer a state of civil war," he said. The Macedonian army and police responded to yesterday's ambush by attacking rebel positions around Tetovo with tanks and helicopter gunships. Heavy fighting raged for several hours in and around the town as dozens of Albanian rebels from the self-styled National Liberation Army moved from positions in the hills into urban areas, searching houses belonging to Macedonian policemen and soldiers. The mayor, Murtezan Ismaili, said: "There is fighting in Tetovo itself. The situation is critical. Nobody's on the streets." In Skopje, a crowd of several hundred gathered outside parliament. Roads in the city centre were blocked by armed police. Two months ago, militant nationalists stormed parliament and attacked foreigners. Yesterday's demonstrators told city-centre traders to shut their premises or face attack. Security officials expressed fears of serious rioting - and believed that Westerners could be targets. The ambush on the military convoy happened at about 9am on a stretch of motorway passing through a rocky gorge four miles outside Skopje. The rebels opened fire on the vehicles with rocket-launchers and machineguns. A civilian car travelling behind the convoy was also hit and burst into flames, but the fate of the occupants was not known. "I saw two corpses burning on the road," said Stavle Djikov, Macedonia's chief prosecutor, who arrived shortly after the attack. "This is a most tragic and sinister event." The ambush came a day after Macedonian police killed five suspected guerrillas in a dawn raid on a house in an Albanian quarter of Skopje, and seized a large cache of weapons which they claimed the rebels were going to use in an attack on the capital. "We condemn all acts of violence and call upon all parties to refrain from any violations of the ceasefire," said Franois Leotard, the European Union's peace envoy. Yesterday's initialling of the peace deal followed 10 days of Western-sponsored talks in the southern lakeside resort of Ohrid, at which Macedonian leaders agreed to allow more ethnic Albanians to join the police, and to greater official use of the Albanian language. The guerrillas say they are fighting for equal rights for the ethnic Albanian minority. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
