[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Downwithcapitalism <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 6:51 PM Subject: [downwithcapitalism] NATO prepares for its next war Reuters. 20 June 2001. NATO Offers Troops, if Only Macedonians Can Agree. Excerpts. BRUSSELS -- NATO Wednesday offered to send around 3,000 troops to Macedonia to implement a [so-called] peace deal, but the troubled republic seemed further than ever from an accord that would induce ethnic Albanian rebels to disarm. President Boris Trajkovski said talks now in their sixth day were "totally blocked" by ethnic Albanian politicians, who he accused of making unreasonable demands and of hoping to divide up the state. Albanian leaders in turn demanded international mediation. European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana backed him, telling European deputies it would be "difficult for our societies to accept concepts such as consensual democracy" -- an Albanian proposal which would give Albanians a veto on all key decisions. A nine-day-old cease-fire was jolted by a report that two civilians were killed overnight by Macedonian army shelling of a rebel-held village. Solana, who leads EU peace mediation efforts in close concert with NATO, expected to return to Macedonia for "a final push" over the weekend, an aide said. The NATO allies announced they were ordering military planners to prepare a force for Macedonia -- expected to number around 3,000 -- to collect arms from Albanian guerrillas as soon as an agreement to end fighting in the republic. In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said American troops could join such an operation. NATO said in a statement it was ready to act swiftly to facilitate the voluntary disarmament of ethnic Albanian insurgents but stressed that a peace agreement in Macedonia was "an essential precondition for any NATO assistance." A NATO official said the allies had not addressed the question of what to do if the Macedonian talks failed. The disarmament force "will not be an open-ended mission. There will be a date for the end," he said. Diplomatic sources said a 30-day limit could be fixed for the operation. "They would be just coming to collect weapons and nothing else," the official stressed, countering speculation that another big Balkan peacekeeping mission was in the making. A diplomatic source said planning could be completed by the end of the week, with approval next week. Troops could move in within a week to 10 days after a Macedonian peace accord. * * * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
