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'The aim of the so-called NLA is to unite all
territories occupied by Albanians by organizing armed
rebellion, committing acts of terrorism...forceful
eviction of the population followed by military crimes
against civilians."

[Just as with Kosovo three years earlier, the truth
really is this direct and simple. But wait an hour and
the obligatory pronouncements from NATO and EU
leaders, as well as assorted envoys from the U.S. and
other NATO nations, will be issued, all bearing the
same impress: The moves by the government in Skopje to
defend its nation and people against armed terrorism
from abroad are deleterious to the Western-engineered
'peace process,' and threaten to undermine "frantic
activity by Western diplomats."
The latter would prefer to replicate their actions in
Kosovo, no doubt, by issuing new uniforms and arms to
Ali Ahmeti and his gangster pogromists, reconstituting
them a sort of Macedonian Protection Corps, and
unleashing them in earnest against the civilian
population of the country.
Once bitten, twice shy.]   



Monday July 30 10:30 AM ET 
Macedonia Seeks to Arrest Ethnic Albanian Leaders
By Philippa Fletcher
OHRID, Macedonia (Reuters) - Macedonian prosecutors
asked local courts on Monday to issue arrest warrants
for 11 ethnic Albanian guerrilla leaders,
overshadowing last-ditch peace talks that Western
envoys are trying to mediate.
The guerrillas are not involved in the negotiations,
which participants said had edged forward, but a draft
peace plan under discussion is designed to persuade
them to end their five-month-old rebellion and disarm.
This would also require an amnesty.
President Boris Trajkovski is chairing the closed-door
talks, at a villa in the lake resort of Ohrid, between
the leaders of four mainstream parties -- two
Macedonian and two Albanian -- in a fragile emergency
government coalition.
The move against the guerrilla leaders was initiated
last week by the Interior Ministry headed by hardline
Macedonian nationalist Ljube Boskovski.
Police said the minister and his convoy came under
fire from the guerrilla National Liberation Army (NLA)
on Sunday on a road outside Skopje, although no one
was injured.
``The aim of the so-called NLA is to unite all
territories populated by Albanians by organizing armed
rebellion, committing acts of terrorism...forceful
eviction of the population followed by military crimes
against civilians,创 said a document from the
prosecutors carried by state news agency MIA.
The talks, begun in May, have frequently been
interrupted by bouts of fighting between security
troops and the rebels, who now hold swathes of
northern and western Macedonia along the border with
ethnic Albanian dominated Kosovo.
There are widespread fears that if they fail,
Macedonia -- the only republic to break away from the
old Yugoslavia in 1991 without a shot fired -- will
collapse into civil war.
ALBANIAN OPTIMISM ON TALKS
There was no immediate reaction from Albanian
officials or the guerrillas to the call for arrest
warrants.
After two days of negotiations, which one source said
had come close to breakdown, sources on the Albanian
side expressed optimism that the main issue as they
see it -- the use of the Albanian language -- was
close to resolution.
The use of Albanian and ethnic make-up of police are
the main remaining sticking points in a draft peace
plan prepared by European Union envoy Francois Leotard
and his U.S. counterpart, James Pardew.
A Western source said the Albanian side had made
''significant concessions'' on Sunday over their two
objections to the draft -- which he did not specify.
But the Macedonian majority has balked at endorsing
reforms it fears could lead to the division of the
country and the source said Prime Minister Ljubco
Georgievski, in particular, was being ``extremely
inflexible.创
Georgievski's ally Boskovski called on Sunday for
''determined action'' to prevent the guerrillas
seizing more territory, implying he felt force was a
better tactic.
A source close to the Macedonian negotiators said
Pardew was pressuring them to accept the latest
version by warning that Western financial support
could be at stake.
But the source expressed fear that if they did sign
up, the agreement would not get the required
parliamentary approval.
``An agreement might be signed but that still leaves
open the question of parliament,创 the source said. A
source on the Albanian side said later that the
Macedonians had come up with a counter-proposal that
was ``totally unacceptable.创
Leotard, speaking to France Inter radio, was cautious.
``We磖e trying to push things forward but I
acknowledge it is very difficult. I磎 not certain of
success and it has to be said frankly. But we do not
have the right to abandon this and leave things in a
logic of war,创 he said.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting,
mostly ethnic Albanians but also some Macedonians.
The European Commission said it would send emergency
humanitarian aid to the more than 60,000 refugees who
have fled from Macedonia to Kosovo and support for
some 10,000 Kosovo families who are hosting them.
A government spokesman said a government session
scheduled for Tuesday had been postponed, indicating
that the negotiations might go into a fourth day at
least.
(Additional reporting by Shaban Buza in Kosovo)  
 

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