Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- THE TIMES (London) MONDAY AUGUST 27 2001 Rebels blamed for Macedonia outrage FROM MICHAEL EVANS IN CELOPAK TWO Macedonian Slav bodies lay dismembered in the rubble of a village motel yesterday after it was blown up on the eve of Nato’s 30-day mission to collect and destroy 3,300 weapons from the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA). The bombing of the motel belonging to a Macedonian Slav near the ethnic Albanian village of Celopak led to a protest by about 200 Macedonians at the site of the explosion. They blamed ethnic Albanian rebels. The breach of the ceasefire in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was followed last night by another bomb, this time in the capital, Skopje. There were no injuries reported after the explosion in a rubbish bin in the northern suburb of Skopje Sever. The explosions increased the tension surrounding Nato’s plans to start the arms collection operation this morning. So, too, has the total of arms to be collected, which has provoked anger and ridicule from senior ministers of the Macedonian Government. Major-General Gunnar Lange, the Danish commander of Operation Essential Harvest, gave details of the arms to be collected, even though Ljubco Georgievski, Macedonia’s Prime Minister, repeated yesterday his view that the figure of 3,300 was a “ridiculous” total — the equivalent, he said, of a single raid on an NLA arms cache by Macedonian police. He estimated that the true figure was closer to 60,000 weapons. Nato sources said they hoped that the Macedonian parliament would approve the political reforms agreed in last month’s peace deal with the ethnic Albanians, despite the huge discrepancy in arms totals. Nevertheless, the mangled bodies of the two men, who according to some reports had been tied to a pillar with explosives attached to them before they died, illustrated the potential risks ahead for the Nato mission and the country’s security. The state news agency MIA said the motel had been mined and it blamed “Albanian terrorists”. The bodies were found after the explosion at 6.15am at the riverside Motel Brioni, outside Celopak, about 15 miles west of Tetovo. The men worked at the motel and had been sleeping there overnight. There was some confusion about who was responsible, but the blast appeared to be aimed at undermining confidence in the peace settlement and Nato’s role in collecting rebel arms. Albanians in Celopak confirmed that they had heard an explosion, but denied that there were any NLA men in the area. Vele Ristoski, owner of the motel, condemned those responsible for failing to allow his two members of staff to leave before blowing up the building. “I have no guns here, no weapons; why has this happened? I could have been here sleeping myself.” In his statement, General Lange said that the arms to be collected included six airdefence systems. British defence sources added that they were shoulder-launched Sam 7 anti-aircraft missiles, which the Macedonian Government had indicated were the greatest threat to its forces. Nato will press ahead with its 30-day timetable, agreed by all NLA commanders, but sources admitted that the politics of Operation Essential Harvest was proving more difficult to resolve than the mechanics of arranging handover times and locations with the rebel leaders. Yesterday a French reconnaissance team was scouring for an appropriate location for the first arms collection, due to take place in the region of Kumanovo in the northeast. In the village of Poroj, near Tetovo in the northwest, the local bearded NLA leader, Commander Leka, with knife, pistol and mobile phone strapped to his side, said that he was waiting to be told when to hand over his 112 Brigade’s weapons. He was unwilling to say how many his brigade possessed and said that Macedonian police were still “shooting at us at night for no reason”. But he said he was confident that Nato would provide the necessary security guarantees. For today’s first arms handover, about 150 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment and 150 French soldiers of the Foreign Legion will guard the weapons collection centre. Macedonian and NLA forces have to withdraw two kilometres (1.25 miles) from their positions once the disarmament begins. All Macedonian heavy weapons have to be returned to barracks. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! 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