Macedonia fighting rages on

The bombardment of suspected rebel strongholds continues

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Fighting has continued in Macedonia despite a five-hour ceasefire called to allow civilians to leave the conflict zone.

It is feared that many of the 26,000 people living in an area under bombardment for several days remain trapped.

In a televised announcement, government officials told citizens to leave the villages in the border area with Kosovo as the Macedonian military prepared to resume its six-day offensive against ethnic Albanian rebels.

Nearly 7,000 ethnic Albanians have gone to neighbouring Kosovo to escape the fighting, the UNHCR refugee agency said.

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But despite the ceasefire, Macedonian forces fired machine-guns and tank shells on several villages, keeping many citizens from attempting to leave their hiding places, journalist Juliette Terzieff told CNN.

"There are an estimated 26,000 civilians living in the area and only a few thousand have managed to get out during the last seven days of fighting," she said.

"As soon as the deadline expired, at 10am local time, Macedonian forces in the area released a barrage of tank fire, machine guns and artillery towards rebel positions."

She said the trapped civilians have been hiding in the homes which have no electricity or water and very little food.

"There are a lot of women and children and elderly in there. A lot of people are suffering from shock and trauma and humanitarian aid organisations have had a real problem getting in.

"They have not been able to enter the villages for three days and no one knows exactly how bad the situation is."

Colonel Blagoje Markovski told the Associated Press news agency: "The operation will continue until the terrorists are finally eliminated."

The resumption of shelling by the army came as the country's main political parties struggle to forge a unity government.

Political parties are considering their response to a proposed "grand coalition" drafted following hours of crisis talks on Tuesday.

An agreement had been reached between the main ruling and opposition parties, but the main ethnic Albanian opposition grouping, the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP), later said it needed more time to consider the unity plan.

NATO Secretary-General George Robertson and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana had backed the plan for a coalition, but PDP parliamentary group head Naser Ziberi said after the talks in Tetovo: "We have not taken a decision yet.

"The priority for us is how to stop the war."

Macedonian officials have repeatedly said they will not negotiate with the rebels.

Political leaders are taking the details of the agreement back to their delegations and their decisions could come on Wednesday.

The PDP wants a ceasefire before finalising any deal.

One rebel commander, Commander Sokoli, told Kosovalive news agency in Kosovo, that "any government formed without the participation of the NLA (National Liberation Army) will only let more blood get spilled."

Fighting resumes in Macedonia
May 9, 2001
Macedonia forms unity government
May 8, 2001
Macedonia rebels under fire
May 8, 2001
Macedonia shelling resumes
May 7, 2001
Solana bids to avert Macedonia war
May 6, 2001
Macedonia resumes rebel offensive
May 4, 2001

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