Envoys press for Macedonia peace

Refugees have began returning from Kosovo to Macedonia

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- The West has been pressing Macedonia's feuding political factions to agree on a peace plan to end a four-month rebellion by ethnic Albanians.

U.S. envoy James Pardew and his European colleague, Francois Leotard, praised the atmosphere of the talks on Monday and expressed optimism.

But the sides were reported to be far apart on a Western-backed plan to reconcile the majority Macedonians, who are mostly Slavs by origin, and the former Yugoslav republic's ethnic Albanian minority.

The negotiations are aimed at translating a fragile cease-fire into a permanent peace and avoiding the risk of civil war.

The ethnic Albanians -- more than one-quarter of Macedonia's two million people -- want equal status with the majority Macedonians guaranteed in a rewritten constitution. The government rejects this, arguing it would lead to a breakup of the country.

AUDIO Juliette Terzieff on resumption of peace talks 1025 K / 159 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Ethnic Albanian rebels who have been battling government troops for months are not involved in the talks. But if their political leaders back a deal, it could lead to the next critical step: rebels agreeing to disarm under supervision of NATO peacekeepers.

Three guerrilla commanders were reported as saying on Monday they would end their armed rebellion in Macedonia only if the state granted ethnic Albanians equal rights.

One front-line officer from the Albanian rebel National Liberation Army (NLA), a Commandant Clirime, told Reuters the NLA took up arms because Albanians tired of pleading for concessions.

AUDIO Juliette Terzieff on cracks in Macedonia's fragile truce 890K / 82 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   PROFILE Francois Leotard

"We are not asking anybody for anything because what we have wanted for 100 years is within our grasp and we are not going to let it go."

The commandants all said Macedonia's Albanians suffered from systematic discrimination that denied them work and a recognised university education in their mother tongue.

"Albanians are discriminated against in every field," a Commandant Leka told Reuters. "For example 90 percent of [the main ethnic Albanian city] Tetovo's population is Albanian, but they have just 2 percent of the jobs and in some fields even less."

In a joint statement, Pardew and Leotard said the negotiations were "conducted in a constructive manner" with the parties expressing commitment "to this process."

However, Macedonian and ethnic Albanian politicians insisted little headway had been made.

"There has been very little progress," an ethnic Albanian politician, Abdylhadi Veiseli, told AP. "We insist on our demands; it will be difficult to finish the negotiations."

Leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) Arben Xhaferi, complained that "the Macedonians are denying what is important for us."

"The Macedonian side has fears but those fears are not realistic -- we are not jeopardising vital interests of the state," Xhaferi said.

Xhaferi said earlier he wanted the West to send in NATO troops to keep the peace and back radical demands for constitutional change -- demands that the Macedonian majority blame for crippling the talks.

Diplomats said the Albanians were seriously mistaken if they believed NATO would send another peacekeeping mission to former Yugoslavia in addition to those in Bosnia and Kosovo.

"We don't need a third protectorate in the Balkans. The people here need to resolve their own differences and not have a military occupation force," one told Reuters, adding that the message being given to politicians on both sides was simple.

"Talk here, talk now, this is the best option you have."

In Washington on Monday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the United States has offered troops to a potential NATO mission in Macedonia, but only in a supporting role, AP reported.