HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------Two Albanians killed in Macedonia gunbattle
By Kole Casule
SKOPJE, March 26 (Reuters) - Two ethnic Albanian gunmen were killed in Macedonia in a fierce night-time gunbattle between rival factions from a disbanded guerrilla force, officials and fighters said on Tuesday.
"We now know that two people were killed and that five innocent bystanders were wounded in the fight," a spokesman for the NATO mission in Macedonia said of Monday night's clash in the western village of Mala Recica.
Former guerrillas said the battle broke out when members of a splinter group called the Albanian National Armada (ANA) tried to free six comrades being held in the headquarters of the disbanded mainstream National Liberation Army (NLA).
Former NLA leader Ali Ahmeti condemned his opponents as criminals and said they would be rejected by Albanians.
"After their latest act, they will be denounced, isolated and driven away from Albanian areas," he said in a statement.
Villagers in Mala Recica on the southern outskirts of the city of Tetovo said they hid in their cellars in fear and heard heavy machinegun fire that lasted around 40 minutes.
They said several detonations, probably rockets fired from hand-held launchers, were also heard. Macedonian authorities said security forces nearby registered more than 20 detonations.
The bottom two floors of the NLA's former headquarters were extensively damaged and neighbouring buildings were riddled with bullet holes, a Reuters correspondent on the scene reported.
SETBACK FOR PEACE
Locals expressed fear that the incident could endanger Macedonia's fragile peace process. Western monitors said it was a setback but not a drastic one.
"Any incident or act of violence will have an impact, but I don't think it would derail the process," a NATO spokesman said.
This was the first major incident between rival factions since the NLA ended a six-month insurgency in August in return for better civil rights for Macedonia's large Albanian minority. The ANA refused to disarm and vowed to fight on.
It confirmed its fighters had been trying to free several comrades, who diplomats believe were detained when two splinter groups argued over control of another village last week.
"The ANA units tried peacefully for six hours to extract their brothers...But they started shooting at us," the ANA said in a statement. "This barbarous behaviour forced the ANA unit to respond with fire."
FEUDING REBEL FACTIONS
NATO troops from the Western alliance's "Amber Fox" peace mission were deployed in Mala Recica to assess the situation.
A senior Macedonian official said no state forces were involved in the shoot-out, in an area where ethnic Albanians dominate the population. A Macedonian investigative team due on the scene on Tuesday postponed its visit until Wednesday.
"Macedonian authorities are going to investigate the incident and we (NATO) will work closely with them to find out what exactly happened," a NATO official said.
The building at the focus of the battle is used by Ahmeti for meetings with top Albanian officials.
14:00 03-26-02
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