Macedonia backs away from war

Macedonian troops have been firing at ethnic Albanian rebel positions

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- The Macedonian Government has postponed a parliamentary vote on whether to declare a state of war amid fresh shelling of ethnic Albanian rebel positions.

After talks with European Union leaders and NATO, Macedonian leaders decided to postpone the vote, which was to be held on Tuesday, state news organisations reported.

The EU and NATO had both argued against a vote, which threatened to divide the Macedonian Slavs and ethnic Albanian coalition.

AUDIO Journalist Juliette Terzieff: Albanian rebels and Macedonian government will keep on fighting 35 secs / 375 Kb AIFF or WAV sound EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana shows support for Macedonian people 116K/21 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Red Cross spokeswoman Anick Bouvier: There are civilians trapped in these villages 465K/43 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Javier Solana, EU Commissioner: There must be dialogue 910K/84 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Robert Frowick, OSCE Special Representative: Macedonia has shown restraint 920K/85 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Journalist Vladimir Gjuzelov: state of war declaration feared 660K/61 sec. AIFF or WAV sound    IN-DEPTH Macedonia: Hurdles to peace   •  Balkan hotspots   •  Interactive map   •  Macedonia's military   •  News search   •  Audio/video archive   •  In-Depth: Yugoslavia   •  In-Depth: Kosovo    COUNTRY PROFILES At a glance: Macedonia Provided by CountryWatch.com

Government officials offered no immediate comment on the postponement, Reuters said.

Fighting has flared between ethnic Albanian rebels and Macedonian forces, with Macedonian troops attacking the rebels' positions with helicopter gunships on Monday.

The rebels say they are fighting for greater rights in majority-Slav Macedonia, while the government says they are trying to break the area away to join ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

"This country may well be on brink of an abyss, but I believe there is enough common sense and political courage to step back," NATO Secretary General George Robertson said after talks with the Macedonian leadership.

Describing the rebels as "a bunch of murderous thugs" out to destroy the republic, Robertson said: "A downward spiral of violence into another Balkans bloodbath would produce only misery."

NATO and EU security affairs chief Javier Solana urged Macedonian government and party leaders to form a national unity government.

"I have been working very hard with your leaders and they have been working very hard to reach an agreement," Solana told reporters. He extended his visit to Skopje on Monday to take part in the talks on a "grand government coalition."

Robertson said NATO southern commander Admiral James Ellis would meet Macedonia's military chief of staff to discuss closer co-operation with Macedonian forces, but gave no details.

He also vowed "aggressive policing of the Kosovo border" with Macedonia by NATO-led forces.

Reuters reporters said two Mi-24 gunships attacked positions in the village of Slupcane and two Mi-8 helicopters rocketed targets near Vakcince, where the rebels were thought to be entrenched.

"Our aim is to continue the operation until the terrorists are neutralised. The fact that Robertson is here does not mean that we have to let the terrorists march into Skopje's central square," said government spokesman Antonio Milosovski.

Arben Xhaferi, leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians, said after talks with Robertson that he would quit the coalition if parliament voted to impose a state of war.

"We are against the tendency to militarise the state," he said."If they proclaim a state of war, we do not want to stay in the coalition."

The main battleground is 30 km (20 miles) northwest of the capital Skopje, close to the main Greece-to-Hungary highway.

It is a 15-minute drive from the Yugoslav border, where the highway runs north along the rebel-infested edge of southern Serbia's Presevo Valley.

Macedonian Army spokesman Blagoja Markovski told national radio that 50 to 60 rebels were occupying the village of Lojane, directly on the Serbian border, after a clash with security forces and were preventing its inhabitants from leaving.

Yugoslavia indicated on Monday that it would collaborate with Macedonia to counter the rebels, the state news agency Tanjug quoted Interior Minister Zoran Zivkovic as saying.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Red Cross said hundreds of mainly ethnic Albanian civilians were taking refuge in their basements in Vakcince and Slupcane.

Some are unable to leave because of guerrilla intimidation, others because they do not wish to or are afraid of the army, a senior OSCE diplomat told Reuters.

About 300 refugees headed into Kosovo over the official border crossing at Blace on Monday, U.N. refugee officials said.

A total of about 3,000 refugees have left northern Macedonia because of fighting and military operations.

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