[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, July 07, 2001 8:38 AM Subject: Expelled Macedonians Attack US Ambassador [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.newsday.com/ap/international/ap323.htm U.S. Ambassador Mobbed in Macedonia by MISHA SAVIC Associated Press Writer July 7, 2001 SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) -- Villagers angry at being expelled from their homes by a rebel advance mobbed an American diplomat -- underlining the tense atmosphere in which Western envoys are trying to transform a cease-fire into a lasting peace in Macedonia. More than 30 Macedonians forced from their homes when ethnic Albanian rebels captured villages north of Tetovo earlier this week mobbed Ambassador Michael Einik after he met Friday with Tetovo mayor Murtezan Ismali. ''We do not believe in any peace agreement,'' the Slavic crowd shouted. ''How is it possible to have a cease-fire when these terrorists are shooting on us?'' Bodyguards whisked the ambassador into his vehicle, but the crowd swarmed and pounded on the car, according to Forte Plus radio in Tetovo. Einik was not injured. The attack came as guns fell silent on the first day of the cease-fire between the Macedonian government and ethnic Albanian rebels, fighting for equal status with their Slav neighbors in the small strife-torn former Yugoslav republic. Of Macedonia's two million people, at least one third are ethnic Albanians who want their ethnic rights codified in a new constitution. Einik returned to Skopje, and later made a scheduled visit to the city of Kumanovo, 15 miles northwest of the capital, which has been another flashpoint. The residents of the six occupied villages north of Tetovo -- many of them communities of weekend mountain homes -- have emerged as vociferous critics of the Macedonian government's handling of the insurgency. Despite the government's fierce refusal to negotiate with the rebels, there are still segments of Macedonian society that feel officials have not taken a hard enough line, characterizing any cease-fire as an unnecessary concession. NATO and Macedonian army officials reported Friday that the cease-fire was holding throughout the country, with only sporadic gunfire. Macedonian Army spokesman Col. Blogoja Markovsi said he did not consider scattered incidents a provocation, but rather ''individual shots from rebels.'' The cease-fire gave U.S. envoy James Pardew and his European Union counterpart Francois Leotard a window of calm to work out details of a political framework addressing ethnic Albanian demands for more recognition and inclusion in Macedonian society. The envoys spent Friday shuttling among political parties, encouraging them to maintain restraint to allow political progress. Late Thursday, a German army convoy was fired, three hours before the cease-fire, about 6 miles west of Skopje, enroute from their base near Tetovo to the port at Salonika, Greece, a transit point for supplies to NATO troops in neighboring Kosovo. Two of the vehicles were hit, one in a wheel, another in a rear window, but no one was hurt, said Lt. Col. Lt. Col. Peter Altmannsperger, a NATO spokesman. It was unclear who fired the shots, but the incident occurred some distance from any front line. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
