Tension as Macedonia considers war

Macedonian troops have been fighting the rebels since February

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Tension is running high in Macedonia as the country's politicians call for a state of war to be declared.

The move comes after officials imposed a curfew in the city of Bitola following riots that broke out on Wednesday after the deaths of five Macedonian troops in an ambush by ethnic Albanian rebels.

The killings prompted Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski to call for a war declaration in a bid to quell the insurrection which began in February.

Macedonia's Western allies have urged the government to show restraint, warning that a declaration of war risked aggravating the insurgency.

Declaring a state of war would need more than two-thirds majority approval -- or 81 of parliament's 120 deputies.

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Besides allowing the military to call up all able-bodied men to fight, calling a state of war would give President Boris Trajkovski the ability to rule by decree and appoint a government of his choosing.

Borders could be sealed, a nationwide curfew imposed and demonstrations banned.

Journalist Vladimir Gjuzelov, speaking from Skopje, told CNN that it would be very difficult for the declaration to be approved, as many parties were opposed to the move and would join ethnic Albanian deputies in voting against it.

The Parliament is due to meet on Friday.

Crowds of Macedonian Slavs have torched ethnic Albanian property in riots in the southern city of Bitola, burning 100 shops and about 10 houses, witnesses say.

The trouble flared after five soldiers, three of them from Bitola, died in an attack on mountain outposts late on Tuesday.

The death of one soldier happened when rebels assaulted a vehicle bringing food to government forces near the village of Gajre late Tuesday, a government spokesman said.

An ambulance carrying a military escort was dispatched to rescue them, but the vehicle also came under fire and the rebels killed four more soldiers.

Three people were injured in the riots, witnesses and a hospital source told the Associated Press news agency.

The home of Macedonia's deputy minister of health, an ethnic Albanian, was attacked, according to eyewitnesses, who said the violence was an apparent retribution for the killing by the rebels.

Shots had been heard as groups of rioters swept through the city, they added.

Trajkovski would gain wider powers if a state of war was declared

State television showed fierce flames billowing out of buildings and firefighters struggling to douse the inferno.

On Tuesday, U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Skopje to meet government officials. He also visited troops in Kosovo as part of a six-day tour of Europe.

Also on Wednesday unidentified gunmen fired on the office of Macedonian president Boris Trajkovski in central Skopje.

The gunfire hit the bulletproof windows of the president office, but did not penetrate the glass.

The attack took place as the president was meeting the leader of a political party. No casualties were reported.

Police say the gunmen fled after opening fire twice in the direction of the building.

Macedonian politicians had suggested a declaration of war in early May to end the insurgency which began in February.

They were persuaded not to do it by the Western powers who said it would alienate ethnic Albanians and complicate the search for peace.

Ethnic Albanians say they face discrimination by majority Slavs. The government calls them terrorists trying to wreck the nation.

The West has been pushing the Slav majority to undercut support for the rebels by improving the rights of Albanians, who say they suffer state-backed discrimination in education, employment and language rights.

The cross-party coalition formed in May to work on reforms has made little progress amid political bickering and tension.