STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Get a low APR NextCard Visa in 30 seconds! 1. Fill in the brief application 2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds 3. Get rates as low as 2.99% Intro or 9.99% Ongoing APR and no annual fee! Apply NOW! http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/NextCard ---------------------------------------------------------------------- US sends 30 out of Macedonia Embassy sees risk to Americans as ethnic anger rises By Colleen Barry, Associated Press, 6/28/2001 SKOPJE, Macedonia - The US Embassy yesterday ordered up to 30 Americans to leave Macedonia following riots that revealed rising anti-Western sentiment in the tense nation. An embassy spokeswoman said the order to evacuate some 10 nonessential embassy staff and 20 contract workers was intended to shield US citizens from ethnic violence. ''This is something the US Embassy does not want to fool around with,'' said Yolanda Robinson, an embassy spokeswoman. ''It's a very unsettled situation and potentially dangerous.'' Canada issued a travel warning yesterday, saying Canadians should consider leaving Macedonia. Germany and Britain also published travel warnings, but did not order citizens to leave. Western officials noted that the United States has more contract workers in Macedonia than other Western nations, and is therefore more exposed. About 2,000 Americans live in Macedonia, compared with some 120 Britons, for example. The mood in the country was tense even before Monday, when armed Macedonian reservists fired on the Parliament during a violent protest by some 5,000 ethnic Slavs. The protesters were angry about a cease-fire with ethnic Albanian rebels who had occupied the village of Aracinovo just outside the capital. US troops, acting under a NATO umbrella and supporting a cease-fire brokered by the European Union, escorted the rebels out of Aracinovo and released them in the mountains about 7 miles away - with their weapons. While there have been no reports of violence against Americans or other Westerners in the capital, some American residents have noted a recent subtle change of attitude. And there have been minor incidents, like anti-American graffiti on homes, or windows broken on cars that have plates identifying them as American-owned. About 20 Americans on US government contracts funded by the US Agency for International Development are leaving. They hope it will be only temporary. For some, the orders coincide with vacations. Two of them, Richard and Amy Hurelbrink of Edinburgh, Ill., finished packing six boxes and two suitcases containing everything they brought with them four years ago. The Hurelbrinks have lived in 25 countries in the last 27 years - including four years in Sri Lanka - and they are leaving reluctantly. But they don't question the order. Over the weekend, they watched from their hillside balcony overlooking Skopje as Macedonian helicopters bombarded the village of Aracinovo. ''It was surreal,'' said Hurelbrink, who has been helping to develop the dairy industry under a US government contract with Land O Lakes Inc. - and plans to continue work from the couple's permanent residence near Munich. The project's staff of 37 grew more nervous as violence drew closer to the capital after being mostly contained to northern border towns during the four months of insurgency by Albanian rebels. The decision to pull out Americans sends a signal to the local population, he added. ''When the foreign community makes mandatory evacuations it makes [locals] very nervous because they think the diplomatic community knows more than they do.'' __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
