Warning of fresh Macedonia attacks

The situation in Macedonia remains tense

KUCKOVO, Macedonia -- Ethnic Albanian rebels have given the Macedonian Government an ultimatum to open talks or face fresh fighting.

The rebels' guns have remained silent following the end of a 24-hour ceasefire last week despite heavy artillery bombardment from Macedonian troops around Tetovo in the north of the country.

But on Wednesday the ethnic Albanian rebels threatened to take up their arms again unless invited to discussions, saying they have been regrouping and recruiting in the interim.

The ceasefire is due to end at midnight on Wednesday (2200 GMT).

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The warning was ignored by Macedonian leaders, who continue to refuse to speak to the rebels.

Government spokesman Antonio Milososki said: "The terrorists will always get the same response from us."

The government has said it will an open a dialogue with ethnic Albanian politicians on their demands for more civil rights once peace has been restored.

They went a step further on Wednesday when officials in Skopje said talks will start in the next couple of days "conducted in several cities around Europe."

In the meantime, Macedonian troops continued their "final operation" against the rebels, launching a two-pronged military assault at dawn on Wednesday.

They used artillery shelling, rolling their tanks and armoured personnel carriers into the village of Gracane near the border with Kosovo, while two helicopters gunships hovered overhead.

Macedonian police at their front lines in Kuckovo, just across a ridge from Gracane, said the village had been emptied of civilians before the bombardment began.

The troops also launched a second front further east in the Tanusevci area.

"This is our final operation to...establish control of this stretch of land," added Milososki. "We want to create conditions for continuation of political dialogue."

U.S. peacekeepers in neighbouring Kosovo used surveillance equipment and two Apache helicopters to monitor the clashes.

"I think very soon we will disperse the terrorists or they will withdraw into Kosovo," said army spokesman Blagoja Markovski.

"At the moment our forces are 200-metres from the borderline."

Police spokesman Stevo Pendarovski said that more than 30 people had so far been arrested in the battles around Tetovo, but nobody had been charged at this stage.

Local media reported that a Macedonian army jeep hit a land mine close to Tanusevci late on Wednesday killing an officer and injuring five other soldiers.

War crimes inquiry

United Nation's War Crimes chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte said on Wednesday she would open an investigation into whether war crimes have been committed during the month-long violence.

Macedonia is continuing attacks while talks continue

She said after a meeting with Macedonian Interior Minister Dosta Dimovska: "I will send as soon as possible an investigation team to achieve some more details about what has happened."

Ethnic Albanians threatened to counter the new offensive by the Macedonian Government, hinting they would no longer hold their fire when faced with army attacks.

Commander Sokoli, one of several regional rebel leaders, told the Associated Press that senior commanders of the movement decided at a late afternoon meeting on Wednesday that they would strike back to reverse government progress.

"We are ready to fight a war in the areas we control," he said.

In contrast to government claims of victory, the rebels suggested they have merely pulled back and re-grouped in the hills around Tetovo.

It was not immediately possible to independently corroborate the claims.

Hysni Shaqiri, an ethnic Albanian deputy, told the BBC's Albanian language section that he had switched his support to the rebel National Liberation Army in protest at the continuing crackdown.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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