http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/24/international/24MACE.html?pagewanted=p
rint
JUL 24, 2001
Seven Are Killed in Macedonian Clashes
By CARLOTTA GALL
ELGRADE, Serbia, July 23 - Heavy fighting broke out today in the town of
Tetovo in western Macedonia between government forces and Macedonian
Albanian rebels, killing at least seven villagers and wounding dozens.
International monitors were trying to negotiate a cease-fire to allow
the wounded to be removed, said Harald Schenker, spokesman of the
Skopje-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. By
evening, the heavy fighting had ceased but the crackle of small firearms
continued to be heard throughout the town.
The American special envoy, James W. Pardew, and François Léotard of the
European Union met President Boris Trajkovski to find a way to restart
stalled political negotiations. They also issued a joint statement
condemning the renewed fighting.
"We are very disappointed by the outbreak of violence in the area of
Tetovo and we strongly condemn those attacks and any use of violence,"
their statement said. "We urge those responsible for these actions to
respect the cease-fire."
Throughout the afternoon, rebels and government forces traded mortar
fire inside the town, causing some residents to flee and many others to
take shelter in their cellars.
The streets erupted in gunfire as shooting sounded from every block and
government forces fired artillery into the outlying districts and
villages. Several houses in the Albanian-populated villages around
Tetovo were burning and smoke drifted from settlements further north.
The fighting exploded after a week of high tension as political
negotiations stalled and both rebel forces and army and police troops
prepared for a new round of fighting.
The talks stalemated over a single issue that illustrates the deep
divide in Macedonian society: ethnic Albanian leaders have demanded that
Albanian be accepted as the second official language in the country, but
Macedonian Slav leaders have so far rejected the idea.
It is not clear what sparked the fighting today, but it followed a
firefight in the city on Sunday which revealed the level of aggression
between the two sides. The government blamed Albanian rebels for
attacking government positions, but the military was criticized by
international observers for reacting disproportionately on Sunday when
it buzzed the town with attack planes.
Today, both sides traded heavier fire and Russian-made Sukhoi jets
roared low again over the town. Prospects for a peace deal look ever
more remote.
The director of the hospital in Tetovo, Rahim Thaci, said he had
received 19 people injured in the fighting, a majority of them
civilians. A 12-year-old girl, brought in from the nearby Albanian
village of Poroj, died from her injuries.
Poroj was just one of the villages hit by government tank fire. Seven
people were killed, including two women and four children, an Interior
Ministry official said, and 24 people were wounded. At least 21 people
were wounded in the town of Tetovo itself, among them four soldiers and
one policeman, the official said. One soldier was killed in fighting
further south where the army clashed with rebels near the border with
Albania, it was reported.
At least 12 other people had called in requesting ambulances for wounded
people, the hospital director said, suggesting that other people who
were not able to reach the hospital also had died.
The fighting worsened rapidly from some random automatic rifle shots,
exploding into a furious exchange of mortar and tank fire and setting
off random gunfire all over the city. Rebels were reported to have taken
the stadium in the north part of the city and to have reached within 20
yards of police positions, firing mortars into the city barracks.
Albanian political leaders last week accepted a political agreement
drafted by Western mediators for constitutional and legislative reforms.
The agreement is intended to address some of the grievances of the
Albanian minority in Macedonia and pave the way for a NATO force to
enter Macedonia and oversee the disarmament of the Albanian rebel force.
But Macedonian Slav leaders have rejected the draft agreement as it
stands, refusing to accept the local approval of the appointment of
regional police chiefs and the largely symbolic elevation of Albanian to
the status of the second official language.
The prime minister condemned the plan, saying it was aimed at dividing
the country. The president has nevertheless requested that international
mediators continue their efforts to find an agreement.
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