Macedonia peace hopes rise

Macedonia says the arsenal was seized in a raid on a rebel base in the capital

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- A peace deal in Macedonia appears to be inching closer despite fresh violence in the Balkan nation.

The European Union envoy, Francois Leotard has said an agreement could be just hours away after a senior Macedonian official was quoted as saying demands for a fast rebel disarmament had been dropped.

But there has been renewed fighting around Macedonia' second city, Tetovo, and The country's interior minister said five rebels were killed in a police raid in the capital, Skopje.

Peace talks are to resume on Wednesday with Western hopes high that a deal can be reached between the Macedonian government and ethnic Albanian political leaders.

Max van der Stoel, from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said: "A number of clarifications have been given and that hopefully will help in reaching an agreement."

MORE STORIES • Time.com: Macedonia peace plan will test rebels' intentions   • Rebels killed in Skopje raid      IN-DEPTH Macedonia: Hurdles to peace   •  Balkan hotspots   •  Interactive map   •  Macedonia's military   •  News search   •  Audio/video archive   •  In-Depth: Yugoslavia   •  In-Depth: Kosovo

A peace agreement had earlier been threatened by Macedonian demands that the rebels, who say they are fighting for greater ethnic Albanian rights, disarm before any deal is put before the parliament.

The rebels issued statements through international news agencies that they would not bow to the demand because they would not be able to rearm if the deal was subsequently rejected by parliament.

Negotiators have already reached agreement on two major sticking points -- the status of the Albanian language and the composition of police forces in Albanian dominated areas.

But Aziz Pollozhani, vice president of the smaller Albanian party at the talks, was quoted by Reuters news agency that the language issue would be back on the agenda on Wednesday.

As talks continued on Tuesday security forces in Skopje put on show an arsenal of weapons that they said had been captured during a raid on a rebel base in the capital.

Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski said five rebels were killed during the raid in the suburb of Cair.

The cache included six assault rifles, five grenade launchers with about 400 rounds, five pistols, three grenades and combat uniforms.