Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- ...senior British, American and NATO forces gave warning yesterday against leaving a vacuum in the country. THE TIMES (London) TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 04 2001 British troops face 'mission creep' in Macedonia peace BY RICHARD BEESTON, DIPLOMATIC EDITOR A NEW force of Nato troops may be deployed in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to protect foreign observers when the present British-led force ends its mission there this month. In the first hint of what could be the start of �mission creep�, senior British, American and Nato officials gave warning yesterday against leaving a vacuum in the country. The present force of 4,500 troops, led by British paratroopers, has been deployed to disarm ethnic Albanian rebels and to maintain security while the country�s Parliament passes legislation granting greater rights to the Albanian minority. The concern now is what will happen when Nato�s mandate for Operation Essential Harvest ends on September 26. A Nato official said that it expected there would be hundreds of international civil monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the EU. The monitors would have to be able to operate around the clock in the ethnic Albanian and Slav villages in northern and western Macedonia, where the heaviest fighting of the past six months has been concentrated. To do that effectively, the unarmed monitors will have to be protected. James Pardew, the American special envoy to Macedonia, said that the issue raised the question �of whether or not there is adequate security for them and whether there should be an extension of the military mandate�. Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, said on a visit to Macedonia yesterday that he was confident that the British troops there would be home by the end of the month, but he confirmed that talks were under way with Nato partners on a follow-up operation. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger http://im.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 ==^================================================================
