Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- [Once again NATO Gauleiter Robertson, a conflation of all four major players at a disturbingly similar gathering sixty three years ago, dictates terms to those who are doomed to lose some - preparatory to losing all - of their nation. And once again it bodes dangerous for yet further concessions and aggression abroad.] Monday August 13 8:33 AM ET Gunfire, Eerie Silence Cloud Macedonia Peace Pact By Mark Heinrich SKOPJE, Macedonia (Reuters) - Persistent cease-fire violations, an eerie lack of local publicity and a NATO warning that peace was not yet at hand clouded Monday's imminent signing of an accord to end Macedonia's ethnic Albanian uprising. Despite another NATO-brokered truce late Sunday, heavy detonations -- apparently shelling -- reverberated northwest of Skopje overnight and the army accused rebels of firing on four villages in hills northeast of the capital. Rebels holding parts of Macedonia's second and main ethnic Albanian city, Tetovo, accused the army of sniping on their positions. But an army spokesman in Skopje said general calm across the front lines prevailed after mid-morning. ``We are waiting for political closure,�� he said, alluding to the pending peace treaty after the bloodiest week of fighting since the guerrillas materialized in northern hills bordering ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo in February. But the afternoon signing ceremony, involving Macedonian and ethnic Albanian party leaders with top NATO and European Union sponsors attending, was shaping up in secrecy. The exact time and venue of the event was not officially disclosed, although a government source told Reuters it would take place around 4 p.m. Only state television was to be allowed to film it, with no live broadcast, and official confirmation of the signing was to come only later from the president's office. The furtive nature of the signing reflected the government's fear of angering a public who believe the fragile Balkan state has been bludgeoned into dangerous, humiliating concessions to minority Albanians by a ``terrorist�� land grab. ANTI-ALBANIAN SENTIMENT RUNNING HIGH Days of emotional funerals for slain servicemen have the majority Macedonian public on edge, with many preferring retribution to reconciliation. About 30 of the 100-odd deaths since the conflict began have occurred in the past week. Up to 19 soldiers and police, five rebels and several civilians have died since August 7. Details of the accord, designed to sap the insurgency by granting the one-third Albanian minority greater rights in everything from education and public use of their language to jobs in the police force, have not been officially released. Ethnic Albanian leaders say the Macedonians never negotiated seriously on ending discrimination until the so-called National Liberation Army (NLA) insurgents burst onto the scene six months ago, a decade after Macedonia became an independent state. Rebels now control swathes of the mainly Albanian-populated north and northwest and the overriding challenge in implementing the peace accord will be getting the NLA to disarm and disband. NATO has earmarked 3,500 troops to collect guerrilla weapons -- which include mortars, heavy machineguns and shoulder-fired rocket launchers -- but, fearing casualties, says the handover must be voluntary and the mission should be over in 30 days. NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, arriving to attend the signing, said the alliance would not help secure it without a firm cease-fire and commitment to disarm by the rebels, who were barred from peace talks but say they support the result. ``This is a very proud day for this country and for the parties in the coalition government. I believe (the accord) will mark the entry of Macedonia into mainstream Europe,�� he said. SOBERING CONDITIONS FOR NATO ROLE ``But so much has to be done to make the cease-fire durable, get the disarmament and get the NATO troops here,�� Robertson said, adding this would be discussed intensively with Macedonian and ethnic Albanian political party leaders during the day. Asked what conditions NATO would demand to deploy the ''Operation Essential Harvest'' force, he said: ``There has to be sustainable cease-fire and a clear indication that they mean business (in handing over weapons). Disarmament looks improbable without an amnesty for rebels. But most Macedonians furiously oppose one given the deaths of dozens of soldiers and police in guerrilla ambushes and the alleged expulsion of hundreds of Macedonian villagers by rebels. Every cluster of Macedonian casualties has been followed by anti-Albanian rioting in which homes, shops and mosques have been burned, and sometimes attacks on foreign property by mobs convinced the West is pro-Albanian. The amnesty issue has only begun to be addressed and is complicated by the hard-line nationalist Interior Ministry's pursuit of war crimes charges against 11 NLA chieftains. Robertson, in a letter to Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski made public Monday, told him that an amnesty was ``an indispensable requirement�� for stable peace. ``To maintain the momentum for peace, it is important that disarmament and parliamentary consideration of the political agreement are undertaken on parallel tracks,�� Robertson wrote. ``The extremists are unlikely to give up their weapons unless the government demonstrates its intentions to implement the framework agreement.�� Parliament must ratify the accord for it to take effect and the vote is to be held within 45 days of the signing. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! 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