Mobs rampage in Macedonia's capital
TETOVO, Macedonia (CNN) -- Hundreds of Macedonians driven by rebels from
their homes are rampaging through the city of Skopje, smashing windows
at embassies and setting vehicles alight.
The residents of the village of Lesok declared that NATO and KFOR
peacekeeping forces were collaborating with the Albanian rebels.
The protest began outside the parliament building but soon swelled out
of control.
The crowd then moved to the centre of the city, breaking windows at the
building that houses the German and British embassies.
A spokesman with the British Foreign Office told CNN that stones were
thrown through several windows but no embassy personnel were injured.
Protesters also smashed windows at a McDonald's fast food restaurant and
burned vehicles belonging to the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe.
Witnesses said the U.S. Embassy was also targeted. Embassy officials
told CNN that about 50 protesters threw rocks outside the building but
did not do any damage.
The State Department said that the U.S. ambassador was at his residence,
not the embassy, at the time of the incident. There are no reported
injuries of embassy personnel, the official said. Security has been
increased at the embassy.
The Macedonian conflict escalated late on Tuesday with new heavy
fighting in the second city of Tetovo.
Journalist Juliette Terzieff told CNN that tanks, machine guns and small
arms were being used in clashes putting the fragile ceasefire under
serious threat. International observers warned the situation could spin
out of control.
Ethnic Albanian rebels attacked an army barracks and clashed with troops
on Tuesday, as the Defence Ministry said that the rebels were advancing
and had surrounded four nearby villages.
A government spokesman blasted NATO and international forces, saying
they are working with the rebels.
"NATO is a friend of our enemies," spokesman Antonio Milosovski said. He
said United State envoy James Pardew and his European Union counterpart,
Francois Leotard, are giving "direct support" to the National Liberation
Army, an ethnic Albanian force.
The Social Democratic Union, the other main Macedonian political party
of the ruling coalition, issued a statement expressing its concern with
ongoing fighting.
It said ceasefire terms had been broken and called on the international
community to protect the civilian population of Tetovo, a village now
largely under rebel control.
The statement said that until the violence stopped, the political
dialogue could not continue.
Ethnic Albanian rebels controlled three areas within Tetovo: the
northeast section, the northwest section and a neighborhood in the
centre of the city.
The rebels set up large, sandbagged checkpoints with 40 armed men, who
had machine guns and grenades. The rebels forced Macedonians in the town
to leave.
There has also been fighting near the border with Kosovo.
International aid organizations said several hundred Macedonian
civilians are trapped by the fighting.
The Macedonian government had threatened to launch a full-scale
offensive against ethnic Albanian rebels of the National Liberation
Army, (NLA) unless they withdrew from around Tetovo, large parts of
which they had moved to control.
Macedonian Defence Minister Vlado Buckovski warned the NLA rebels to
withdraw from ground it has taken during the truce or face an all-out
attack.
"If the terrorists do not retreat to their positions of July 5, there's
no alternative but an offensive by the Macedonian security forces to
restore the previous situation," he said.
Terzieff said it was not clear if the new fighing was the threatened
all-out government assault.
Visiting the neighbouring Serbian province of Kosovo, currently under
the control of NATO-led peacekeepers, U.S. President George W. Bush on
Tuesday called on the rival groups in Macedonia to observe the crumbling
cease-fire and he urged Kosovo Albanians not to become involved.
Ethnic Albanian rebels say their five-month campaign is aimed at gaining
greater rights for their minority group but the Macedonian majority
accuses them of trying to seize ground and split the state.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/07/24/macedonia.offensive/index.htm
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