STOP NATO: O PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Get a low APR NextCard Visa in 30 seconds! 1. Fill in the brief application 2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds 3. Get rates as low as 2.99% Intro or 9.99% Ongoing APR and no annual fee! Apply NOW! http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/NextCard ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "If this isn't just a negotiating tactic, they're in trouble," a diplomatic source said. "The consensual democracy model is in effect a recipe for non-government." NATO is the carrot and the stick. Monday June 18 3:14 PM ET Deadlocked Macedonia Peace Talks Given NATO Carrot By Daniel Simpson SKOPJE, Macedonia (Reuters) - Macedonia's politicians are under heavy international pressure to agree on a peace plan by Wednesday if they want NATO troops to help them disarm ethnic Albanian guerrillas, diplomatic sources said Monday. Some European NATO allies are ready to send in troops to help collect guns if the rebels agree to end their four-month insurrection, according to NATO and European Union sources. An initial decision could be announced at a NATO meeting Wednesday, but only if there are results from cross-party talks in Skopje to thrash out terms for averting civil war, including concessions to Macedonia's one-third ethnic Albanian minority. ``NATO is being asked to do things to help and when they meet they want to see their help is relevant and worth offering,创 said a Western diplomatic source. ``That means we need progress.创 The talks, described by diplomats as spasmodic, are deadlocked over Albanian demands for wholesale changes to the tiny Balkan state's 10-year-old constitution, which closely resemble key parts of the guerrillas' own conditions for peace. Leaders of Macedonia's majority are resigned to making sweeping changes but balk at demands for a consensual democracy, meaning all sensitive decisions would need Albanian approval. Government sources said the Albanian parties in a fractious coalition, formed to try to prevent war, also want a new post of vice president to be created and reserved for an Albanian. ``If this isn磘 just a negotiating tactic, they磖e in trouble,创 a diplomatic source said. ``The consensual democracy model is in effect a recipe for non-government.创 NATO MUSCLE NEEDED Western powers, anxious to broker a peaceful solution rather than be called upon to pick up the pieces, are putting Macedonia under heavy pressure to agree quick constitutional changes designed to undercut support for the guerrillas, who say they are fighting for minority rights. But they accept that diplomatic backing will not be enough and, led by Britain, are preparing another Balkan operation, with peacekeepers in neighboring Kosovo likely to take part. While there is no intention to disarm the guerrillas by force, there is a risk that renegades may try to wreck a peace deal by provoking violence. So even a small operation would require adequate ``force protection,创 NATO sources said. Under the peace plan being hammered out, Macedonia is forming a crack military unit to strengthen its meager armed forces for a possible attack on rebels dug in on Skopje's outskirts. But that threat is not as likely to persuade rebels to give up as the NATO deployment they demand, diplomats say. DEADLOCK The carrot of NATO involvement, the one thing politicians of all stripes can agree on, may help the search for compromise when parties resume a fourth day of haggling Monday evening. ``Failure to sort it out by Wednesday is not a showstopper,创 a diplomatic source stressed, pointing to an EU deadline of next Monday as more decisive. ``But we want progress not talks.创 A major obstacle is the wording of the constitution's preamble, which labels Albanians as one of several minorities in a country of ``the Macedonian people.创 Albanian leaders want this changed to describe them as one of Macedonia磗 founding peoples. But majority leaders of Slav descent would rather delete all ethnic references than approve changes that would in their eyes deny Macedonians their own nation, after years of denials by their neighbors that Macedonians were a true ethnic group. Russia, which shares their Orthodox Slav roots, launched an attack on Western policy Sunday. On a brief visit to Kosovo, Russian President Vladimir Putin said NATO had failed to stop Albanian gunmen spreading from the U.N.-run Yugoslav province and was now forcing Macedonia to cave in to their demands. Although both sides called cease-fires last Monday, the rebels until June 27, their shaky truce is punctured almost daily by exchanges of light fire. Gunmen have targets, such as the airport, in range from the village of Aracinovo on Skopje's fringes. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Spot the hottest trends in music, movies, and more. http://buzz.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
