Ambush kills Macedonian soldiers, peace plan

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, AUG. 9. The Macedonian peace deal, so laboriously and carefully structured by the European Union, is now in disarray and on temporary hold, after a deadly ambush yesterday by ethnic Albanian rebels in which 10 Macedonian soldiers died.

The Macedonians are now insisting on fresh terms. Even if a peace deal is signed - scheduled on Monday - there are serious doubts about launching the proposed NATO operation, aimed at disarming ethnic Albanian rebels. Slowly and steadily, the ethnic Albanian rebels are ``consolidating'' their territorial gains in areas of Macedonia, predominantly dominated by them. Hence, the Macedonian Serbs are insisting that - as a precondition for a settlement - the ethnic Albanians must remove their armed forces from the `occupied' territory.

Confusion prevailed over the contours of the proposed peace plan following the ambush. The ethnic Albanians have not participated in the latest round of talks.

NATO officials here say they have no idea of the number of weapons the ethnic Albanians possess and wonder if they will all be handed in. NATO has structured a so-called ``essential harvest'' military operation to disarm the rebels but analysts doubt if the weapons could be collected within the original timetable of 30 days. NATO is also reluctant to be bogged down in an ``open-ended'' military operation.

Its planners are also unsure where exactly its troops should be deployed to collect weapons. Originally, NATO had proposed sending some 3500 troops.

There is some confusion among the 19 NATO member countries over the operational logistics of the proposed military mission. Greece, for example, insists on sending a `reconnaissance' mission first to assess and identify areas of troop deployment but some members feel it is very dangerous.

Earlier in the week, optimism ran high when Macedonia's warring ethnic factions reached a peace accord after intense plodding by western officials. But much uncertainty has descended on Macedonia, following the ambush. In some quarters, there is concern that the crises could escalate into an all-out civil war.

Hence, senior western officials are again engaged in a frantic round of talks in what is widely rated as a damage limitation exercise.

The ethnic Albanian insurgents took up arms in February to challenge the authority of the Macedonian government. Ostensibly, the minority ethnic Albanians are seen fighting for greater rights but many Macedonians suspect that a quest for ``greater Albania'' still motivates them.

After hard negotiations, the Macedonians have agreed to key points of the western peace plan, which grants the restive Albanian Muslim minority a greater role in police, Parliament and education.

Though, in principle, NATO has agreed to deploy 3500 peacekeeping troops to disarm the rebels, this cannot happen until both sides have signed the deal.

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Section  : International
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