By Irena Guzelova in Tetovo Published: FT March 18 2001 21:53GMT | Last Updated: March 18 2001 21:56GMT Artan Skenderi is the owner of one of the Albanian language television stations in the town of Tetovo, the second-largest town in Macedonia, and now the site of clashes between Macedonian police units and ethnic Albanian guerrillas. "This has taken us all by surprise. We have no control," he says. "Events are developing over our heads." Outside his office on Saturday, Tetovo's streets were eerily quiet. Occasional shots cracked from the hill overlooking the town, where Macedonian police have taken up positions, firing into the woods above them. The speed with which the ethnic Albanian insurgency in Macedonia has spread has surprised not only Mr Skenderi and other local Albanians but also the international community and the Macedonian government. What until a week ago was a practically unheard-of group calling itself the National Liberation Army (NLA) now poses the greatest threat to the country since it gained independence in 1992. Macedonia's government says some 500 well-equipped and well-trained ethnic Albanian rebels are entrenched in the hills north of Tetovo, estimating that three-quarters have come over the border from Kosovo. They have been joined by unknown numbers of ethnic Albanian hardliners from Macedonia, and there are some signs that the violence is polarising the community. Menduh Thaci, deputy leader of the DPA, the ethnic Albanian party which shares power in the governing coalition, has warned, for instance, that his party's popularity has slipped since the current round of violence started last month. Before the trouble erupted, the DPA had received wide-spread support for its efforts to improve Albanian representation in the workplace by working together with the Slav majority. "I don't want somebody from the outside to come and liberate me. I really thought we had rid Macedonia from politics of ethnic extremism, but now I'm very worried," says Iso Rusi, editor of the Albanian language magazine Lobi. He warned against a heavy-handed response, saying such action would raise nationalist sentiment: "That would be like oil on fire." The current trouble began around the village of Tanusevci, on the border with Kosovo, and a well-known smuggling haven. Tanusevci had, for a long time, been overlooked by both Nato and Macedonian troops, but an agreement settling the border dispute between Yugoslavia and Macedonia signed on February 23 led to stricter patrols, sparking clashes between Macedonian police and ethnic Albanian smugglers, which led to the deaths of three Macedonian police. Two weeks after the initial shoot-out, the insurgents issued a statement calling for improved rights for Albanians in Macedonia. This immediately raised fears that they are seeking to carve out a separate ethnically pure state. The speed with which this rag-tag group of bandits has transformed itself into a force capable of launching an attack against the country's second-largest town has baffled everyone and raised speculation of outside interference. Zoran Kusovak, an analyst with Janes' Information Group, urges the Macedonian security service to deal with the situation quickly and efficiently, and snuff out the insurgency before it gains further strength. "It's gaining momentum and if this escalates it will be very difficult to stop." Like many observers, he recognises the Macedonian government's dilemma but is puzzled over why they have not managed to push the insurgents back. Mr Kusovak criticises the largely defensive response of the Macedonian security forces to the trouble on the hills outside Tetovo. Despite bombarding guerrilla positions with shells and mortars, the security forces have so far barely moved an inch further up the hillside since the fighting erupted on Wednesday. _______________________________________________ CrashList website: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base
