| |
 |
Macedonia ceasefire up in the air
|
A CEASEFIRE between Macedonian security forces and ethnic Albanian rebels was up in the air again yesterday after police accused the guerrillas of an ambush that left six police officers wounded.
Residents of Skopje worried that the rebels could put into action a threat to lob mortar rounds on to the capital.
The ambush late on Monday near the flashpoint northwestern town of Tetovo came just seven hours after the self-proclaimed National Liberation Army (NLA) responded to a halt in army shelling in the north with its own 24-hour ceasefire, valid until 1200 GMT (8pm Beijing Time) yesterday.
Security forces had resumed their intense bombardment early on Monday despite a warning from rebel leader Commander Hoxha that he would attack Skopje from his base in the suburbs if his demands were not met.
But in a sudden change of tactics, Dimitrov said the army would halt its shelling of northern villages for an unspecified period to allow an international humanitarian mission to enter rebel-held areas.
Security forces have surrounded the Skopje suburb of Aracinovo but have made no move on the NLA fighters on the edge of the capital.
The US State Department condemned the rebels for trying to destabilize the multi-ethnic country, while Nato-led peacekeepers in Kosovo said they had arrested 21 armed ethnic Albanians trying to cross the border.
The rebels could however attack the main road leading to the airport, to the southeast of the town, which is a major logistical hub for Nato's peacekeeping operations in Kosovo.
(SD-Agencies)
|
|
|
|
