Macedonia peace moves gather pace

An ethnic-Albanian girl looks through a car window at a police checkpoint

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Peace talks in Macedonia gathered support on Saturday despite reports of skirmishes and moves by government forces to better co-ordinate their fight against ethnic Albanian rebels.

Macedonian media reported an exchange of infantry fire near the village of Aracinovo, a rebel stronghold on the outskirts of the capital, Skopje.

The violence came despite a ceasefire declared by the rebels on Friday. The Macedonian government had also promised "military restraint." There was no word on casualties.

Despite the clashes, the leading ethnic Albanian politician in Macedonia expressed optimism about negotiations to end the crisis and head off a full-scale war in the Balkan country.

"We are pushing this process forward," Arben Xhaferi said.

He and other politicians representing Macedonia's majority Slavs and the ethnic Albanian minority began a second day of talks on Saturday.

The peace plan drafted by President Boris Trajkovski won backing from European Union leaders, who promised more aid if it succeeds. They also said they would send an EU envoy to be based in Skopje to help shore up the talks.

The plan calls for a ceasefire, amnesty for most rebels who disarm voluntarily and greater inclusion of ethnic Albanians in state bodies and institutions.

A Macedonian government official, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Trajkovski was also is willing to remove references to ethnicity or religion from the constitution and add Albanian as an optional state language.

EU leaders, meeting in Sweden, also suggested they were moving closer among themselves to endorsing Trajkovski's request for NATO troops to help collect weapons if the insurgents agree to disarm.

Representatives from the 19 NATO nations were expected to meet on Wednesday in Brussels, Belgium, to consider that request.

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The militants are demanding a full deployment of NATO peacekeepers in Macedonia before accepting any peace proposal. But EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said that no consideration was being given to a large-scale NATO operation.

The militants, known as the National Liberation Army, took up arms in February in a fight they say is for broader rights.

Macedonian authorities contend the rebels are bent on carving up the country and have led several offensives to dislodge them from their strongholds.

Trajkovski has asked for help in disarming the rebels

On Saturday, the government launched a joint military and police task force commanded by the army chief, General Pande Petkovski, police spokesman Stevo Pendarovski told AP.

The task force, established earlier this month, is charged with coordinating actions against insurgents under a simplified chain of command.

It is part of a Crisis Management Body set up by the Macedonian government and including officials of both ethnic groups. Other committees are responsible for inter-ethnic confidence building measures, disarmament of rebels, relations with international organizations and media campaigning, he said.

Pendarovski also admitted that the Interior Ministry had dismissed some of the reservists recently mobilised around the capital.

The ministry had distributed guns to reservists, mainly Macedonian Slavs from the Skopje area, after rebels took the suburb of Aracinovo, triggering fears of a wider conflict.

Also on Saturday, rebels allowed for water to be restored to the 100,000 inhabitants of the northern city of Kumanovo, cut off 11 days ago when they took over of a nearby reservoir, Macedonian television reported.

The rebels allowed an engineer, accompanied by a humanitarian convoy, to work to restore the water flow in return for food and other aid to civilians in rebel-held villages, according to private A1 television.