EU's envoy heads for Macedonia

Macedonian forces back in control of Aracinovo. The U.S. flag was left by ethnic Albanian rebels.

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- The European Union's new envoy, Francois Leotard, is scheduled to arrive in Macedonia on Thursday.

Before taking up his post, he said that ethnic Albanian rebels would not be involved in political dialogue, which he said was excluded by EU policy.

The former French Defence Minister said: "I would like to clarify the fact that the position of the European Union has not changed.

"The Albanian-speaking guerrillas have no place in the political dialogue, which should be conducted only with the legitimate representatives of the political parties.

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"My work in Skopje as permanent representative of the European Union in Macedonia will be totally based on this line."

Earlier on Wednesday, Leotard, speaking on Europe 1 radio, caused confusion in Brussels and Skopje.

He said of the Macedonian government: "They have to speak with these guerrillas to try, with the leaders of this Albanian-speaking part of their country, to see that a consensus emerges and peace can be installed."

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Western officials, desperate to prevent another Balkan war, have been trying to foster government talks with politicians representing minority ethnic Albanians, but have not said before that the armed rebels should be brought into any negotiations.

In Brussels, EU and NATO officials said Leotard's remarks on Europe 1 radio did not reflect the official Western position, which rules out talks with the fighters.

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They said he might have mixed his words, meaning Albanian political leaders rather than rebels.

Earlier on Wednesday, Macedonian security forces shelled a village held by ethnic Albanian rebels in the northeast of the country.

The shelling of Nikustak could be heard from newly-liberated Aracinovo as police units searched homes in the village, looking for any rebels who had stayed behind after a withdrawal brokered by the European Union.

Ethnic Albanian rebels were escorted from Aracinovo under NATO escort on Monday prompting riots in the capital, Skopje, by Slav nationalists, angry that the rebels were allowed to kept their weapons.

CNN's Nic Robertson, the only Western journalist in Aracinovo, said that as police fanned out through the village and carried out the house-to-house searches, shelling could be heard from Nikustak.

He said up to 70 per cent of the houses in Aracinovo had been damaged by the three-day assault last week.