Fighting rages in Macedonia

By Vaiju Naravane

PARIS, MARCH 26. There is heightened tension in the tiny Balkan Republic of Macedonia with violence continuing around Tetovo, the country's second largest city.

The Macedonian army has used T-55 tanks sent in specially by Russia as well as helicopter gunships in a bid to dislodge Albanian rebels who have captured several villages in a large swathe of territory in the mountains surrounding Tetovo. At least one policeman, a soldier and four ethnic Albanians were wounded in Sunday's fighting. (Agency reports said the army had pushed back the rebels from six villages).

The Macedonian Government claims it has taken several guerillas prisoner. Tetovo lies on a plain at the foot of a chain of mountains marking the border with Kosovo. The last straggling houses of the town cling to the hillsides. Macedonian forces have encircled the villages of Gajre and Shipkovica near the Pena river.

The use of heavy artillery by the Macedonian army may well lead to a political crisis within the country. Roughly 30 per cent of Macedonia's population of 2.3 million people is made up of ethnic Albanians who say they are treated like second class citizens.

Mr. Imer Imeri, president of the Party for Democracy and Prosperity, the dominant Albanian party in Macedonia's Parliament, told The Hindu that he and his supporters would boycott Parliament and suspend dealings with the Government till the attacks against unarmed civilians and the guerillas was halted. The NATO General Secretary, Lord George Robertson, is now in Skopje to hold talks with Macedonian leaders including representatives of the Albanian community.

In Kosovo, the three major Albanian parties warned of disastrous consequences and escalating violence. ``Skopje's failure to cease its offensive will lead to a war with terrible consequences for the entire region,'' Mr. Skender Hyseni, spokesman for the moderate Kosovo Democratic League said.

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Section  : International
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