Macedonia: NATO poised to launch mission

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, AUG. 23. The NATO troop deployment in Macedonia today began in earnest ``to collect arms from Albanian rebels on voluntary basis only'' but according to senior NATO officials and informed observers ``the NATO mission is wrought with danger''. The NATO's Secretary- General, Lord Robertson, said the collection of arms could start early next week. While 500 troops have already arrived in the capital Skopje, the bulk of troops would arrive by weekend.

Lord Robertson said Macedonia had been on ``the brink of a bloody civil war''. According to observers, it remains to be seen if the current 10 days ceasefire - agreed between ethnic Albanian rebels and Macedonia security forces - could be sustained long enough for NATO troops to carry out weapon collection ``without incidents''.

The bulk of the task force is British and last night Opposition parties there voiced concern about their safety in a region described as ``effectively a war zone''. The soldiers are due to fly to Macedonia later in the day. The German Parliament has yet to approve the participation of 500 soldiers in the mission amid much edgy nervousness all round.

Lord Robertson rated the NATO mission as a ``confidence building exercise'' and dismissed fears that the operation could be prolonged beyond 30 days by reluctance on the part of the Albanian rebels to hand over their weapons.

There is already a dispute about the number of weapons. The Macedonian government claims that the rebels have 85,000 weapons while the rebels say they would hand over 2000 weapons. The reality is that nobody seriously believes that the rebels would hand over all their weapon stock.

Though the NATO officials have so far displayed much reluctance to get involved in yet another ``open-ended'' Balkan adventure like those in Kosovo (40,000 troops) and Bosnia (20,000 troops) many observers fear such a prospect.

In such circumstances, even Lord Robertson agrees that it would be difficult ``to find consensus'' among the 19 NATO member- countries. The American role is limited to deployment of 300 troops who will be doing aerial and satellite reconnaissance, transport, communications and medical work.

In Macedonia, government hard-liners and nationalists are overtly expressing distrust of the rebels and feel convinced that they will hide their best weapons. On their part, ironically, the rebels want the NATO troops to stay indefinitely as they fear the government troops may launch a military offensive to re-capture villages which they are now holding.

There are reports of some ethnic cleansing as many Christians are fleeing Muslim majority areas in the Macedonian regions which border with Albania. The demolition of a Christian orthodox church on Tuesday and sounds of fierce mortar gun battle have again fuelled deep suspicions on both sides of the ethnic and religious divide.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Next     : U.S. denies deadline on ABM pact