Macedonia talks to resume

Leotard and Pardew are hopeful of a final peace deal being reached quickly

OHRID, Macedonia (CNN) -- Peace talks are due to resume in Macedonia on Friday with Western envoys hoping to seal a deal at the weekend.

But sporadic clashes and a speech by Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski have dampened optimism, Reuters reported.

Georgievski said military action should be used to recapture territory held by ethnic Albanian rebels, saying a peace deal could not be signed while rebels remain a threat.

But he also expressed hope of reaching a deal.

A tentative deal on the use of the Albanian language was agreed at the talks in Ohrid on Wednesday.

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In a speech in southern Yugoslavia on the Macedonian national day holiday on Thursday, Georgievski said: "We must take back our occupied territories because we can't close our eyes to the fact that we are talking under the threat of guns."

Also on Thursday, Reuters said a 25-year-old policeman was shot and wounded in the chest by rebels near the northwestern town of Tetovo. Doctors said his wound was not life-threatening.

A Macedonian policeman shot dead two days ago was buried in a ceremony in Tetovo on Thursday, with explosions heard from nearby mountains during the service. There were no reports of injuries.

The deal agreed on Wednesday at the peace talks removed one of the key sticking points in negotiations to end months of fighting between ethnic Albanian rebels and the Macedonian government.

The rebels say they are fighting for increased rights for ethnic Albanians, while the government says they are "terrorists" intent on breaking up the country.

The talks aimed at reaching a political solution are scheduled to gather again on Friday "with the aim of quickly reaching a final agreement on the remaining issues," an aide to U.S. envoy James Pardew told CNN.

The ethnic Albanian leaders want the status of their language to be enhanced, but some on the government side fear it would be a step which could contribute to the break-up of the country.

Among those remaining issues is the inclusion of Albanians in police patrols.

If a peace deal is reached, some 3,000 NATO troops would be deployed to help disarm the rebels.

A Western diplomat told Reuters that Wednesday's tentative deal would give Albanian the status of official language in certain areas and under certain circumstances.

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"Macedonian remains the primary language used everywhere but Albanians now have the status of official language for their language," he was quoted as saying.

"In areas where they make up 20 percent or more of the population, interaction with their government will be in Albanian."