Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- [And Death Star democracy claims another country....Ali Ahmeti pledges that the Macedonian KLA will turn over their weapons, just as his colleagues Agim Ceku and Hashim Thaci promised in Kosovo over two years ago, over thousands of murders ago, thousands of abductions ago, hundreds of thousands of expulsions ago. Then like now NATO stood as guarantor of disarmament; then like now no reasonable person believed it.] Wednesday August 15 8:08 AM ET NATO Discusses Swift Advance Force for Macedonia By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO envoys met Wednesday to discuss sending 3,500 troops or a smaller advance force to Macedonia, but the head of the planned mission said a truce was too ragged to allow full deployment yet. Macedonia has stepped back from the brink of a new Balkan war in the past two days with the signing of a deal and a commitment by ethnic Albanian rebels to disarm. A cease-fire is in place after six months of conflict and, despite scattered violations overnight, was largely holding. The Macedonian Defense Ministry reported two guerrilla shooting attacks but said the army did not respond, suggesting the incidents were not serious, and the fronts were now quiet. NATO pondered whether to keep up the momentum by agreeing swiftly to send in a force to collect weapons the rebels lay down and leave again within 30 days. A long-term peacekeeping role for NATO was not on the agenda. Ambassadors from the 19 NATO member states met in Brussels to decide if and how to deploy troops. A NATO source said the governments were expected to decide quickly on a proposal to send an advance team of some 400 troops. ``Prospects look pretty good,�� the source said, speaking after the meeting of ambassadors at NATO headquarters. The envoys will consult their governments, and if none objects by 1500 GMT, the proposal would be approved and the advance team could travel to Macedonia this week, the source said. The NATO source said no decision had been taken on deploying the entire 3,500-member force. A British defense source said earlier that London could send a couple of hundred advance troops as early as Thursday. Diplomats say Britain has pushed hardest for swift deployment but France, Germany and some other nations were more skeptical. SHAKY TRUCE In the Macedonian capital Skopje, the planned NATO mission's head said the truce was not firm enough yet to allow deployment. Major-General Gunnar Lange said plans to send in the troops were advancing quickly after the rebel commitment to disarm on Tuesday and government promises of political reforms. ``Some of those conditions (for deployment) have now been met,�� he told a news conference. ``The conditions on the ground must also be right before any deployment can occur. The cease-fire must be respected. Our soldiers will not come here to enforce a peace.�� He said that a group of 15 NATO experts would examine the truce, declared Sunday night but marred by repeated violations, ''over the next few days.'' Under the plan, NATO is to set up weapons collection points around the former Yugoslav republic for guerrillas voluntarily to dump guns, bullets and mortars. NATO will destroy the stockpiles. Once a green light is given by NATO, forces could deploy within about 10 days, Lange said. BOOST The scheme got a giant boost Tuesday when the political leader of the National Liberation Army (NLA), Ali Ahmeti, signed a deal with NATO mediators committing rebels to hand over arms. In a communique emailed to Reuters, Ahmeti said: ``The military agreement foresees reconciliation after the arrival of NATO troops, demilitarization of the NLA and implementation of the (political) agreement by the Macedonian parliament and international community.�� Arben Xhaferi, the pre-eminent Albanian party leader in Macedonia and his community's top negotiator, welcomed the pact. ``Things are quickly falling into place for NATO,�� a Western diplomat said. The deal follows the bloodiest week in the conflict so far, with at least 30 people killed. In this week's first big step toward peace, leaders of the main Macedonian and Albanian parties signed an agreement on Monday to give ethnic Albanians more rights ranging from wider use of the Albanian language to more funding for education. The rebels say they have been fighting for the rights for ethnic Albanians, who make up a third of the population. The government accuses them of wanting to split up the nation. Rebel disarmament is meant to go in tandem with the package of political reforms, due to be voted by parliament within 45 days. NATO deployment is likely to take about two weeks before the mission starts. President Boris Trajkovski is expected to send a letter to parliament Wednesday outlining needed constitutional changes, a first formal step toward implementing the package of reforms. But some Macedonian hard-liners would still prefer an all-out onslaught on the rebels, reckoning reforms are concessions at gunpoint. And they say that continued cease-fire violations raise doubts about Ahmeti's grip on the NLA. On their side, many guerrillas have argued that they should not give up arms and territory until the peace deal is more than a piece of paper. The lightly armed NATO troops will have no way to force rebels to disarm. Many Macedonians fear the guerrillas will simply bury most weapons and dig them up once NATO leaves. Trajkovski helped pave the way to the rebel disarmament pledge by promising NATO mediators that he would grant an amnesty, except for crimes that could be prosecuted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. But an amnesty has to be voted through the Macedonian- dominated parliament which is wary of concessions. Macedonian prosecutors on July 30 said they were asking for arrest warrants against 11 NLA members, including Ahmeti. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! 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