Hopes rise for Macedonia deal

Family members mourn a Macedonian reserve policeman killed in clashes with ethnic Albanian insurgents

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Peace talks aimed at ending the conflict between the government and ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia are making progress, the U.S. mediator in the region has said.

James Pardew, who has previously been downbeat about the talks, told Reuters: "We had some progress. I feel good today."

An Albanian negotiator, Imer Imeri, told Reuters agreement on the main sticking point -- the status of the Albanian language in Macedonia -- could be close.

"There is a real possibility of reaching an agreement on the language issue by noon tomorrow. I can say that today most of the work was done," he said on Tuesday.

The talks, which began on Saturday in the south-western town of Lake Ohrid, are aimed at finding a political solution to the ethnic violence that is threatening to engulf the country.

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Fighting broke out in the former Yugoslav republic in February with ethnic Albanians, who make up about one-third of the country's two million population, demanding greater rights.

According to a draft proposal put together on Monday, Albanian would be considered an official language in areas where ethnic Albanians account for at least 20 percent of the overall population.

Representatives of Albanian rebels, however, who have been waging a bloody guerilla war against the Macedonian government since February, have said the agreement didn't go far enough.

They demanded that Albanian should be used in "open" parliament sessions rather than just the "closed" ones stipulated in the proposals.

Both sides are supposed to be observing a cease-fire, although according to U.S. officials Albanian rebels are failing to live up to their part of the agreement.

In the most recent incident rebels twice opened fire with mortars against government positions on Mount Sara, near the town of Tetevo.

According to the Macedonian defence ministry, government troops did not respond.

On Monday, four Macedonian soldiers were shot and injured at a checkpoint near Tetevo, while a reserve police officer, Djoko Lazarovski, was killed in clashes with ethnic Albanian insurgents in the village of Lesok, also near Tetovo.

Meanwhile, the Macedonian prosecutor's office in the capital, Skopje, has ordered the arrest of 11 members of the ethnic Albanian rebel army, including its political leader Ali Ahmeti.

The move comes in the wake of Monday's attack on the country's Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski, whose convoy came under fire as he was heading to a village where refugees were returning to their homes.

No one was injured in the ambush, which Boskovski angrily blamed on ethnic Albanian rebels.

In a statement, Boskovski called on "the police and the army to establish control over the entire Macedonian territory."

"Not a single smart man can trust terrorists any longer," the statement said. "We have to prepare and be ready to regain lost territory."