Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- Deutsche Welle English Service News August 16th, 2001, 16:00 UTC A Macedonian policeman was shot dead by suspected ethnic Albanian rebels on Thursday, puncturing a fragile ceasefire on the eve of the arrival of an advance force of NATO troops meant to help a peace accord. Army sources blamed the rebels for the killing, the first of a member of the security forces since a fragile ceasefire was declared on Sunday as part of a plan to end the six-month rebellion. The ceasefire had been holding around Macedonia on Thursday before the shooting. British troops will start leaving for Macedonia on Friday to pave the way for a NATO peace mission, their commander said. Around 400 British troops will act as an advance guard for a a NATO force of 3,500 which has been charged with collecting weapons from rebel ethnic Albanian fighters. The advance party will make recommendations to NATO on how safe the environment is for the full force to be deployed and exactly what equipment it will need. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Thursday he had not yet finalised a plan to win parliamentary approval for the deployment of German soldiers in a NATO peace mission to Macedonia. Even though approval is far from assured because of opposition to deployment within his own Social Democratic party, Schroeder has said Germany cannot stand on the sidelines if NATO nations agree to send troops to Macedonia. Germany is scheduled to contribute 500 troops to the 3,500-strong force. If the 28 SPD deputies who said they oppose the deployment were to be joined by the opposition, Schroeder's government would fall short of the majority required for deployment. It is not clear how the opposition would vote. Israel issued a new warning on Thursday to Palestinian gunmen south of Jerusalem to stop shooting, and Russia and the United States stepped up pressure on both sides to end months of fighting. In a joint stand, Washington and Moscow agreed to coordinate efforts to end more than 10 months of violence in the region, and pave the way to a resumption of peace talks which stalled shortly before aPalestinian revolt erupted last September. The West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories mainly populated by Palestinians, were relatively calm overnight and on Thursday. U.S. President George W. Bush spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday and both agreed on the need to avoid escalating the violence in the Middle East, a White House spokesman said. The West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories mainly populated by Palestinians, were relatively calm overnight and on Thursday. A Bosnian Serb army colonel pleaded not guilty to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, Europe's bloodiest atrocity since World War Two. Vidoje Blagojevic, who commanded an infantry and engineering brigade in the Bosnian Serb Drina Corps, denied responsibility for the execution of thousands of Bosnian Muslim men captured after the U.N. "safe area" in central Bosnia, fell to Serb forces in July 1995. A massive blast at an explosives factory in southern India on Thursday left 21 workers feared dead and six injured, with some bodies still trapped under the debris, officials said. The blast ripped through the detonators unit and was heard for miles around the factory near Katpadi, about 140 km west of Madras. Rescue workers said the heat generated by the explosion was so intense it had twisted the iron and steel.They said they could see more bodies under the debris but efforts to remove them were slowed by fears of live explosives lying around the site of the blast. Fifteen people, including eight women and two children, were run over by a train while crossing a railway track ,in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Thursday, railway officials said. The accident happened when the victims, got off a train that halted briefly between stations. There was a curve in the tracks and those crossing did not see the train coming from the opposite direction," a Central Railway spokesman told Reuters. The accident happened between Achegaon and Bodwad stations. Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said on Thursday three western diplomats seeking to visit eight detained foreign aid workers accused of promoting Christianity had completed their mission in Kabul and should contiue to monitor the case from Islamabad. The diplomats,had been denied consular access to the detainees, and said the Taliban had suggested had said they were unlikely to be granted visa extensions. Twenty-four staff from German-based Christian relief group Shelter Now, were arrested almost two weeks ago. Angola's UNITA rebels were reported on Thursday to have killed 10 civilians and wounded 20 others in a dawn raid just four days after slaughtering more than 250 people in a train attack. Portuguese news agency Lusa quoted Church-run Radio Ecclesia as saying the attack occurred on Tuesday in the Bunjei district of southern Huila province. Unita rebels had reported an upsurge of fighting on Tuesday and said they had killed at least 29 government soldiers in two offensives. Lusa said 30 people were first wounded in Tuesday's attack and airlifted for hospital treatment. But 10 people later died due to lack of medical supplies and services. A large anti-UNITA protest is planned in the capital Luanda on Saturday. ------------------------------------------------- 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 ==^================================================================
