Policeman shot dead in Macedonia

A hooded Macedonian police officer at a checkpoint near rebel strongholds

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- A policeman has been shot dead in Macedonia, puncturing an uneasy truce on the eve of the arrival of an advance force of NATO troops to help disarm rebel fighters.

Macedonian officials told CNN he died at a checkpoint in Tetovo after being caught in the crossfire between government forces and ethnic Albanian rebels of the National Liberation Army (NLA).

Army sources blamed the rebels for the killing, the first of a member of the security forces since a fragile ceasefire was declared on Sunday as part of a plan to end the six-month rebellion.

Rebels told Reuters that the police had opened fire on civilians.

The shooting came as a fragile truce in Macedonia appeared to be holding as NATO prepared for the deployment of troops to begin the process of disarmament.

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CNN's Walter Rodgers said the shooting showed the volatility of the environment the NATO soldiers were entering.

A vanguard of troops from Britain's 16th Air Assault Brigade is set to travel to the former Yugoslav republic on Friday to pave the way for a force of 3,500 to underscore a peace deal as part of Operation Essential Harvest.

Both rebels and army officials had accused the other of repeated violations of the cease-fire signed on Sunday. A durable and sustainable truce is a key condition of NATO's operation in the region.

Earlier Macedonian army spokesman Blagoja Markovski told Reuters: "It's relatively quiet. The situation is more relaxed than the previous period."

Fighting flared between government forces and the rebels earlier this year, with the government saying the ethnic Albanian militants were "terrorists" seeking to break-up the country. The rebels said they were fighting for increased rights for ethnic Albanians in Macedonia.

A first group of about 40 British soldiers are expected to fly into Skopje late on Friday night and 350 are due to arrive during the weekend, Johnson said.

British officials said its troops were going to help implement the peace deal forged between political leaders on all sides and would not get involved in any fighting between ethnic Albanian rebels and government forces.

British armed forces minister Adam Ingram said: "We are there for weapon collection, not to work a green line between the two sides, not to peace-make or to peace-keep and not to pursue one group against another. If it does go pear-shaped, then this force will have to terminate."

Ingram told CNN the advance force would be establishing a headquarters and setting up communications links.

Macedonian army soldiers patrol a village northeast of Skopje

"What they will be doing is assessing the situation on the ground to advise the decision-makers in NATO as to the desirability of the further deployment of NATO troops for weapons collection.

"If the agreement doesn't hold -- and that's a matter between the parties -- their advice to NATO would be 'don't send troops at the present time.' If that was the decision, no further troops would be deployed if there was no prospect of weapons collection."

The government in the former Yugoslav republic gave the necessary formal go-ahead for full deployment on Wednesday, and said it was expecting the first troops at the weekend.

Full deployment would include troops from 11 European nations and the United States.

NATO officials in Brussels also said rebels officially declared how many weapons they intend to turn in. They were working with the Macedonian government to get them to accept that figure, estimated at 2,000 weapons.

A rebel commander told CNN on Tuesday rebels would give up their arms in three stages over the 30-day period, with a verification process to satisfy the security concerns of both sides.

But Reuters quoted Vest, a pro-government daily, warning a guerrilla splinter faction, the Albanian National Army (ANA), was vowing to fight on.

ANA has claimed responsibility for some recent attacks on the security forces, notably an ambush in which 10 soldiers died last week in the bloodiest attack of the conflict so far.

Macedonia's government says it is taking ANA seriously but is not sure whether it exists beyond an e-mail address.