NATO Destroys Rebel Arms

Associated Press ^ | 9/10 | KATARINA KRATOVAC

[oxi-nato]

KRIVOLAK, Macedonia -- NATO soldiers burned piles of ammunition and cut apart guns given up by ethnic Albanian rebels Monday as part of the alliance's mission, as the West discussed the next step to steer the Balkan nation toward peace. NATO's operation to collect weapons is to end Sept. 26, and it has said it would not extend that deadline.

But European Union nations agreed over the weekend in Genval, Belgium, that a multinational force must be sent to Macedonia this month after the NATO mission ends. Such a contingent would be used to protect civilian monitors and act as a buffer between Macedonians and ethnic Albanians in tense regions.

The new force would be smaller than the 4,500 NATO troops now in Macedonia, would again be led by the 19-nation Western alliance but be open to Russian, Ukrainian and other non-NATO troops, as is the case in neighboring Kosovo, and in Bosnia. The government of Macedonia opposes a further foreign military role.

But Russian support for a new military contingent could help overcome opposition from Macedonian conservatives critical of the Western-brokered peace agreement. The accord calls for surrendering rebel arms in exchange for greater political and language rights to ethnic Albanians, about a third of Macedonia's 2 million people. French President Jacques Chirac called his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Monday to discuss "preserving the stability" of Macedonia.

In Athens, Greece, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin endorsed the idea of a new force, but suggested it should have a U.N. mandate. Meanwhile, NATO neared the halfway point in its mission to collect a 3,300-piece arsenal surrendered by the guerrillas, who launched their uprising in February. At a military base in Krivolak, about 45 miles southeast of Skopje, NATO teams incinerated more than 30,000 rounds of ammunition.

At another site, they exploded two anti-tank mines and about 24 rocket-propelled grenades. The blast left a nearly three-foot-wide crater and sent a smoke cloud 65 feet into the air. Other teams used electric cutters to slice apart more than 500 weapons -- mostly AK-47 rifles. We have a schedule to follow. We're on time with that," said Lt. Col. Constantinos Houpis. Soldiers took a small number of arms Monday near Brodec, about five miles northwest of Tetovo and the site of a former rebel training base.

Ethnic Albanians have strongly appealed for NATO to remain, but the Macedonian government has insisted an outside military force is not needed after NATO's departure. "That would be an artificial peace," government spokesman Antonio Milososki told The Associated Press. "We are surprised by the drastically changed attitude of some Western countries that ... claimed that the peace agreement was the only guarantee of stability and today come out preferring a military presence."

Milososki added that Macedonia would support an international force to patrol borders. During the conflict, rebels and weapons moved across the frontier with NATO-supervised Kosovo.

[45Auto]

Let's see now..."Alliance" troops are now in Bosnia, Kosovo, and soon Macedonia....the whole deal is nothing more than occupation of sovereign nations by a foreign army. How long can this last? And at what cost? Lunacy, sheer lunacy.