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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday June 3 11:19 AM ET Macedonian Guns, Helicopters Hit Rebel Villages By Anatoly Verbin LJUBODRAG, Macedonia (Reuters) - Macedonian artillery and helicopters blasted ethnic Albanian rebels in a string of villages Sunday before fresh talks among government coalition partners aimed at ending the crisis. The army said it ``destroyed创 a column of some 20 to 30 guerrillas trying to take up positions at the medieval monastery above the village of Matejce. A rebel commander named Shpati denied the claim. In its latest assault, the army targeted four northeastern villages held by guerrillas since a five-month-old insurgency flared up again in early May. Long-range artillery pounded Matejce, Otlja, Slupcane and Orizare on the lower slopes of mountains. Several houses on the outskirts of Vistica were also hit. The army said last week there were no rebels there. The government accuses the guerrillas of using the mainly ethnic Albanian civilians as human shields. It says concerns for their welfare has resulted in slow progress on the battlefield. There was no sign of a ground assault or fighting around the village of Lipkovo, where some 8,000 civilians are believed to be trapped with short supplies of food and water. Giving details of the army attack in the Matejce area, defense ministry spokesman Georgi Trendafilov told reporters in the town of Kumanovo: ``Army helicopters spotted a column of Albanian terrorists who were trying to take positions near the monastery. The column was destroyed. There were between 20 and 30.创 The rebels denied this. ``This is Macedonian propaganda. They want to win the war with words,创 Shpati told Reuters by mobile telephone, adding that his forces were holding their positions and one guerrilla soldier had been lightly wounded. FEARS OF EPIDEMIC Many civilians are holed up in basements in the rising summer heat and there are fears of an epidemic. ``The civilians don磘 have food, they don磘 have water and they don磘 have medicines,创 the mayor of Lipkovo, Hysamedin Halili, told Reuters by telephone. ``If we don磘 get help soon, things will be very bad.创 Trendafilov said the government wanted to evacuate civilians with the help of the Red Cross. ``We hope this will be possible in the coming days but obviously the authority of the Red Cross means nothing to the terrorists,创 he said. President Boris Trajkovski was to resume talks Sunday evening with the main parties in Macedonia's ethnically mixed coalition, with the aim of ending the violence. The dialogue is to address the grievances of the country's ethnic Albanian minority, who say they face discrimination in all walks of life, including education and employment. But a leading ethnic Albanian politician said the rebel National Liberation Army (NLA) should join the talks. ``We can only end the war by negotiating with players in the war, and that includes the NLA,创 Arben Xhaferi, leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians and a key partner in the national unity government, told Reuters. Xhaferi was last week persuaded by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana to set aside a peace pact he signed with the guerrillas which threatened to wreck the coalition. Sunday's talks were expected to include discussion of Trajkovski's proposal for a partial amnesty for guerrillas, which would exclude the ringleaders. ``We cannot give amnesty to killers,创 Interior Minister Ljube Bojkovski told reporters close to the battle zone Sunday. 创The amnesty is envisaged for those not directly involved in the attacks but those who were forced to shoot.创 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
