[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Downwithcapitalism <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2001 1:00 AM Subject: [downwithcapitalism] Protesters storm Macedonia parliament CNN (with additional material by BBC). 25 June 2001. Protesters storm Macedonia parliament. SKOPJE -- Protestors have stormed Macedonia's parliament building forcing President Boris Trajkovski and other politicians to flee. Shooting broke out as at least 5,000 people gathered in front of the parliament building to demand the president's resignation on Monday evening. Several police and at least 50 members of the army were said to have joined in the protests as the chaos erupted in capital Skopje. CNN's Juliette Terzieff said sustained volleys of gunfire could be heard coming from four different directions. She said the president and other politicians were evacuated. They were alive, but there were no details of their condition or their wherabouts, she added. Police set up up road blocks around the building, allowing people to leave the area, but not to enter, she added. The protesters were chanting slogans deriding Trajkovski's decision to allow the rebels to take their weapons as they pulled back from the town of Aracinovo on Monday. Some of the protesters entered the parliament building, firing volleys of automatic gunfire in the air, and there were shouts of "Gas chambers for the Albanians!" The demonstrators broke through a cordon of police, hurled stones through windows and then succeeded in storming the doors. All the windows in the front of the building were smashed and objects were being hurled out of them. Several cars, including the president's Mercedes were destroyed. Turzieff added that several police officers and several journalists were injured in the storming, including one BBC journalist who "was beaten up and received fairly severe wounds." The demonstrators accused Trajkovski of bowing to international pressure by allowing rebels to take their weapons as they pulled back from Aracinovo -- a suburb of Skopje. A BBC correspondent in Skopje says the atmosphere is extremely tense in the city, with threats against ethnic Albanian shopkeepers. The president has not issued any statements since the demonstrations began. The violent protests came during a day that started with great progress following the announcement of a European Union-backed ceasefire, but degenerated into virtual chaos in the streets of the capital by the end of the day. Earlier, two U.S. KFOR soldiers were wounded near the village of Nikustak while supervising the withdrawal of ethnic Albanian rebels. Their battalion came under fire, apparently from Macedonian troops, diplomats in Macedonia confirmed. They say the incident was an accident. The wounded soldiers were evacuated by helicopter and their medical condition is unclear. A NATO spokesman said 15 KFOR buses were transporting ethnic Albanian rebels from Aracinovo -- a suburb of the Macedonian capital Skopje -- to the village of Nikustak, about two kilometers away. The buses were provided by KFOR nations , France, Italy and the United States. PHOTO ATTACHMENT. Skopje demonstration. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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