From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- [If the world was fair...] "Unfortunately, a lot of them seem to think we're here to assist the Albanians." September 7, 2001 Canadian troops encounter muted hostility, waving crowds in Macedonia AMY CARMICHAEL Canadian Press (CP) - Some Macedonians threw glass and rocks, others waved as Canadian troops drove by during their first week as part of a NATO peacekeeping mission in the Balkan country. The Canadian contingent of 200 soldiers are camped in an abandoned industrial area just west of the capital, Skopje, an area inhabited mainly by people who support the Macedonian government in the conflict with ethnic-Albanian rebels. "Unfortunately, a lot of them seem to think that we're here to assist the Albanians," Sgt. Dan Haverson said Thursday in a telephone interview. "That obviously isn't the case. We're here to make sure that everything goes in a nice smooth manner and that this doesn't turn into some of the other areas of the Balkans where there's been civil war and a lot of people getting killed." The rebels took up arms in February saying they were fighting for the rights of Macedonia's ethnic-Albanian minority who account for about a third of the population of two million. As part of a peace plan, the rebels have agreed to hand over 3,300 weapons to NATO in exchange for greater political rights in Macedonia. Since their arrival in Macedonia, the Canadians have been performing night missions, escorting convoys of British and German troops from Skopje through the tense Tetovo valley to the border with Kosovo. "We are ensuring the security of the convoys and today we've had no problems whatsoever moving them up and down there," said Maj. Roger Cotton, commander of 140 of the Canadian soldiers. "In general the people wave and are happy to see you and the children are waving at you as you drive down the street," Cotton said. But there are some hardliners on both sides who don't want NATO to interfere. Haverson mentioned instances when people have hurled objects at Canadian vehicles. "Things have been thrown at vehicles, my vehicle actually," Haverson said. "Somebody threw glass at me the other night, and there have been beer cans and rocks." Last week, at the start of the NATO mission, marauding youths threw a block of concrete that killed Ian Collins, 20, a British soldier. He was driving an armoured vehicle under an overpass on a main road outside Skopje, British military officials said. Cotton said Collins' death "affected everyone here very deeply." Since the attack, local police have stepped up patrols. "I travel the route where Collins was killed," Cotton said. "I move under those underpasses once or twice daily and I can tell you I have not seen any kids throwing rocks since I arrived here Aug. 27." "And I think it's definitely in response to the local police authorities understanding that was unacceptable and making sure it doesn't happen again." The Canadian troops were going on their first surveillance mission Thursday. They have not yet been involved in collecting weapons. "Our brigade plans on tying us in to that weapons collection soon," Cotton said. French, British and Italian troops have collected a third of the 3,300 weapons the rebels agreed to hand over. While ethnic-Albanians have asked NATO to stay after the weapons are collected to keep the peace and provide protection, Cotton said the Canadian plan is to move the troops in Macedonia back to Canada in early October. Cotton said morale among the Canadian group is high, but prior to arriving in Macedonia they had been in Bosnia for five months. They are due to rotate home in 30 days and are eager to return to Canada by early next month. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
