http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-NATO-Macedonia.html June 20, 2001 NATO Ready to Send Troops to Macedonia By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 11:34 a.m. ET BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- NATO agreed Wednesday to send several thousand troops to Macedonia to help disarm ethnic Albanian rebels if Slav and ethnic Albanian leaders can resolve the country's crisis over how to safeguard minority rights. However, prospects for such an accord faded shortly after NATO made its announcement when Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski said in Skopje that talks between Slav and ethnic Albanian representatives had stalled. He accused ethnic Albanians, who seek constitutional changes to give them more rights, of trying to carve up the country. After a NATO ambassadors meeting, the alliance issued a statement stressing ``the urgent need for a successful outcome of the political dialogue'' between Macedonia's political leaders. It called a lasting cease-fire ``an essential precondition for any NATO assistance.'' A shaky cease-fire has been in effect in Macedonia since last week while political parties debated a plan put forward by the president to resolve the country's political crisis. The broke out late last year after rebels launched attacks against Macedonian police. NATO gave no operational details of its proposed Macedonia force. However, several officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said NATO contemplated deploying as many as 3,000 soldiers to supervise the disarming of National Liberation Army fighters who give up their weapons voluntarily. ``The only mission of NATO will be to collect weapons. In other words, a limited disarmament,'' said one official. NATO military strategists are expected to need ``a few weeks'' to draft an operational plan. Several nations have said they want to participate in the force. The United States was expected to provide only logistical support. Since Macedonia's president has formally asked NATO to help, the Macedonia force would not need a U.N. mandate, NATO official said. The official also said the troops in Macedonia would not come from the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in nearby Kosovo, remain in Macedonia ``something like six weeks, rather than six months'' and have ``clear'' rules on what to do if they come under fire. ``The rules of engagement will be strong and made very clear for everybody,'' said the official, without elaborating. The alliance envisages a NATO-only operation but would keep non-NATO members -- most notably Russia -- abreast of the force's activities. Talks to reconcile differences between Macedonia's rival Slav and ethnic Albanian camps dragged into their sixth day Wednesday, then stalled. ``Talks are blocked in this phase because of a major change of position by the Albanian parties,'' Trajkovski said. He accused ethnic Albanian negotiators of seeking to ``block the talks completely ... with an expectation that the international community will intervene and support their unreal political demands, which would include cementing terrorist positions in temporarily occupied territories.'' The 15-nation European Union has taken the lead in trying to mediate an end to the conflict. On Wednesday, the EU's foreign policy and security chief said diplomacy was at a critical point in Western efforts to prevent full-scale civil war. ``We must continue to do the utmost to avoid war in Macedonia,'' Javier Solana told the foreign affairs committee at the European Parliament. ``This is a crucial week ... We hope we will be able to resolve these constitutional difficulties.'' Solana also said he hoped European countries would contribute to the NATO force. ``I don't think that extraordinarily big numbers will be required,'' he said. Serbian News Network - SNN [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.antic.org/
