Setback in Macedonia peace talks

EU special envoy Francois Leotard and Solana hail the breakthrough

SKOPJE, Macedonia (CNN) -- Peace talks are due to resume in Macedonia with Western envoys still hoping to seal a deal after suffering an eleventh hour setback.

Macedonia's majority Slav and minority Albanian parties hit a new snag on Monday when Slav negotiators demanded ethnic Albanian rebels disarm before sending a proposed peace deal to parliament for approval.

The hitch came after a positive weekend of major breakthroughs in negotiations. The Macedonian government and ethnic Albanian politicians resolved the two biggest hurdles following eight days of talks, leaving Western mediators to believe a final peace deal could be reached to end eight months of fighting.

The Macedonian government includes representatives of the ethnic minorities, which include Albanians, Romas and others.

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European envoy Javier Solana, who joined the talks on Sunday, said the two sides had agreed to a power-sharing deal governing the country's police forces. This follows agreement last week on recognizing the Albanian language as the country's second official language in areas where it is spoken by more than 20 percent of residents.

Thorny issues such as an amnesty for ethnic Albanian rebels fighting in the north of the country remain unresolved, but if a deal is signed it will herald the deployment of about 3,000 NATO troops to help disarm rebels.

AUDIO U.S. envoy James Pardew: "The hard part is behind us" 1.5MB / 150 sec AIFF or WAV sound Journalist Juliette Terzieff on issues remaining in the talks 1200K / 52 sec AIFF or WAV sound

Under the agreement, 1,000 Albanian policemen will be hired by July 2003 and deployed "according to the composition and disposition of the population," Pardew said. "There will be more Albanian policemen in Albanian areas."

Currently only five percent of the Macedonia police force is ethnic Albanian. The appointment of police chiefs was another issue decided on Sunday. The chiefs will be appointed by Macedonia's interior minister and approved by municipal councils, increasing the councils' authority over the police chiefs, Pardew added.

Pardew described Sunday's deal as the "second of the two big hurdles" in the talks, the first being an agreement on language that was settled earlier in the week. Under that agreement, Albanian will be considered an official language in areas where ethnic Albanians make up at least 20 percent of the population.

The talks are the latest effort to reach a political settlement to end a violent insurgency by ethnic Albanian rebels that has destabilized the Balkan nation.