[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 6:30 AM Subject: Macedonia Heads For All-Out War As Demos Rock Capital [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Sopranos fanatics, this one is for you. Tony Soprano's autographed Suburban is available for purchase on eBayTM. James Gandolfini has personally signed the vehicle. Find this and over 800 other Sopranos items for sale on eBay. http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/ebay ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday July 25, 10:03 AM Macedonia heads for all-out war as demos rock Skopje SKOPJE, July 25 (AFP) - Macedonia faced the threat of all-out war Wednesday amid fresh fighting in Tetovo between ethnic Albanian rebels and security forces, as thousands of people rioted in the capital Skopje, targeting Western embassies and offices in a show of frustration and rage. About 2,000 demonstrators, many of them young, hooded and armed with sticks set fire to vehicles and buildings late Tuesday, smashing the windows of the British and German embassies and a McDonald's restaurant. The riots came after heavy fighting broke out again and continued late into Tuesday night in the northwestern town of Tetovo, confirming fears that a ceasefire agreed on July 5 was in shreds. Earlier, Macedonia closed its border with neighbouring Kosovo, which it accuses of fuelling the insurrection. It also accused NATO of helping the rebels, who began their uprising for greater Albanian rights in February. In Tetovo, heavy explosions and bursts of gunfire could be heard just 200 metres (yards) from the town centre. Much of the area was deserted, with many residents having fled the fighting. An AFP journalist said a Macedonian army barracks, which was hit by mortar shells on Monday, came under fire again as did a nearby police checkpoint. Artillery and mortar fire was reported late into Tuesday night, but the army spokesman here told AFP that it then calmed down. "The situation is calmer, although there is still sporadic shooting," said spokesman Blagoja Markovski. Several houses were burnt down during the clashes in Tetovo suburbs, he said. On Monday, two people were killed, one of them a 12-year-old girl, and 31 were injured in more than six hours of clashes in and around Tetovo. Some 250 Macedonian Slavs who had fled the fighting travelled by bus to Skopje where they demonstrated in front of the parliament. The four coachloads of demonstrators, carrying bags with personal belongings brought from their homes, were calling for the liberation of their villages held by ethnic Albanian rebels, representatives said. In the riots later Tuesday the protestors set fire to a dozen vehicles belonging to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and thick smoke could be seen rising above their parking lot. Armed with sticks, the protestors shouting "Macedonia! Macedonia!" marched towards the parliament building, where they yelled "The Albanians are terrorising us" and "NATO, open your eyes!" Around 11:00 pm (2100 GMT), some 2,000 protestors marched towards the US embassy premises, pelting it with stones and chanting anti-American slogans. But most of them turned back less than an hour later, faced with strong police and security presence blocking the access to the embassy. Only hours earlier, US President George W. Bush and NATO Secretary General George Robertson had called for the ceasefire to be respected. Bush, on his first visit to Kosovo, called on government forces and ethnic Albanian rebels in the self-styled National Liberation Army (NLA) of Macedonia to "maintain the ceasefire". The ceasefire agreement had bought time for EU envoy Francois Leotard and US ambassador James Pardew to work on a political settlement to the dispute over greater Albanian rights with Macedonia's Slav and ethnic Albanian political leaders. But as their talks lost momentum last week, when the Slavs rejected a list of Albanian demands for changes to the constitution, the uprising that began in February gained pace again and fuelled fears of a new Balkans war. In Brussels, Robertson issued a statement urging both parties to respect the commitments they made when they signed the ceasefire. "Provocations and encroachments are unacceptable and must stop. In particular, I call on the so-called NLA to revert to their positions at the time of their ceasefire undertakings," the statement said. Bush also warned that Kosovo, a UN protectorate, "must not be a safe haven for people causing insurgency elsewhere" and urged both sides to work with international envoys to resolve the crisis. However Macedonia accused NATO of supporting the rebels, in order to turn the country into an "international protectorate." "NATO is not an enemy of Macedonia, but, at the same time, it is a big friend of our enemies," goverment spokesman Antonio Milososki told reporters. Robertson denied reports that the NATO-led peacekeeping force, KFOR, was supplying armed ethnic Albanian groups. "NATO has not given, and would not give, material or moral support to these groups," he said. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
