Riot targets ethnic Albanians

A funeral procession for Bosko Najdovski, killed by ethnic Albanian rebels

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- A man was shot as Macedonian rioters enraged by the killing of government commandos smashed and burned shops owned by ethnic Albanians.

Police said the riot by several hundred Macedonians broke out shortly after midnight on Tuesday in the country's third-largest city, Bitola.

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About 40 businesses were targeted with the mainly young men hurling stones through shop windows, smashing goods and setting several buildings on fire.

A cafe owner was arrested by police after one man was shot in the abdomen. Two other people inside the cafe during the incident were also detained and the injured man has received surgery.

Three other people were injured by flying glass during four hours of clashes.

Only "timely police action prevented the incident from turning more serious," the police said.

The riots came hours after funerals for four of the commandos killed in the weekend by ethnic Albanian rebels.

The government says the commandos were ambushed, near the northern border with Kosovo, shot in the head and then stabbed in the most deadly clash between government forces and insurgents since fighting flared in February.

Six members of the elite "Wolves" security unit also were wounded.

The rebels say they acted in self defence after being fired upon.

"We consider it as a provocation by the Macedonian forces so that they could present themselves as the victim," Ali Ahmeti, political leader of the National Liberation Army (NLA) guerrilla force, told Reuters news agency on Monday.

Macedonian police carry the coffin of 25 year-old Kire Kostadinovski

There are fears that scenes from Bitola, about 170 kilometres (105 miles) southwest of the capital Skopje could be repeated elsewhere and police have urged Macedonians to refrain from violence.

Ethnic Albanians form up to a third of Macedonia's population of two million and there have been growing calls for changes to the constitution, which names the country's Slavs as the primary nation.

The government claims the armed rebels are using violence to try to break up the country along ethnic lines.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed U.S. solidarity with Macedonia on Tuesday but warned against violence targeting ethnic Albanians.

Powell said: "There is a great deal of frustration in the region. Violence produces nothing but broken homes and casualties."

Before Powell's meeting in Washington with Macedonia's President Boris Trajkovski, the president said he would be seeking "political, economic and military support."

Trakjovski said the killings had "nothing to do with the democratic demands of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia. It is pure terrorism, and it must be eliminated."

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Macedonia acts to stem violence
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Government of Macedonia
NATO
European Union
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell

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