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We've Harvested The Melons Dnevnik, Sitel, A1, Zum, Kanal 5, Vest, Nova Makedonija, Vecher and Fokus are joining the operation "Essential Harvest," supporting its aim to disarm and pacify the paramilitary NLA. We want Peace. We know that even obsolete weapons can kill. We value the symbolism of the “Harvest” operation. That’s why we decided to contribute so that symbolic is totally understood by all citizens, especially those who belong to the ethnic communities which are not included in the voluntary disarmament. In order for them not to feel like second-class citizens, we give them a chance to voluntarily surrender ...

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - The European Parliament urged European Union (news - web sites) governments Wednesday to join forces in the fight against politically inspired violence in the 15-nation bloc. The assembly adopted by an overwhelming majority a recommendation calling for the EU to adopt common anti-terrorism laws, abolish formal extradition procedures and introduce a Europe-wide search and arrest warrant for high-profile suspects. ``Some may regard such measures as extreme. I believe that all are justified in tackling a form of crime designed to destroy democracy based on the rule of law,'' said British Liberal Democrat deputy Graham Watson, who ...

As the Macedonian parliament continues its debate on a peace deal, preparations are getting under way for the ethnic Albanian guerrillas to hand over more of their weapons. However ethnic Albanians are concerned that they will become more vulnerable to attacks by Macedonian special forces and paramilitaries, if the guerrillas surrender their weapons. In the centre of Skopje, a large electronic display invites young Macedonians to join the Tigers - as the special forces of the Interior Ministry are known. Ethnic Albanians have blamed the Tigers for a number of heavy-handed assaults on Albanian-inhabited settlements. One of these included the ...

THE Albanian rebel army which last week handed over more than 3000 weapons to British and French soldiers in Macedonia still has 30 times that amount of firepower stashed in hidden caches, and could resume hostilities within days if the fragile ceasefire breaks down. A secret Nato intelligence report claims that the self-styled National Liberation Army still has up to 8000 modern assault rifles, 25,000 second world war-vintage firearms, 55,000 pistols, more than 200 heavy machine-guns, 200 sniper rifles, about 50 anti-aircraft missiles, and 300 anti-tank missiles. It also has 200 mortars and a stock of 5000 landmines. Most are ...

According to the British paper "Daily Telegraph," American soldiers who are part of NATO forces at Bondsteel base in Kosovo are "under stress," because due to the blocking of the road at Blace border crossing they don't get enough ice cream. Besides the lack of ice cream, another mayor stressor for the US soldiers is postponing of their vacation in Bulgaria. Because of all that, the American forces' Command called upon a team of psychiatrists and stress experts to help the soldiers overcome this condition. One of the stress experts explained for the British paper that the lack of ice ...

The Macedonian authorities and NATO are in serious disagreement because after the accident on the road Pertovec – Skopje , when one British soldier has lost his life, NATO did not allow the Macedonian police to see the place of the accident. High government representative stated for Dnevnik that "NATO has made a precedent" and that they doubt if the accident took place on the highway. According to the basic agreement between the government and NATO, in a case of accident the research teams from booth sides have to come at the scene of the accident – which was not ...

Skopje, August 15 (MIA) - Macedonian Minister of Interior Ljube Boskovski informed Tuesday that one of the discussion topics at the meeting with OSCE Ambassador to Macedonia Carlo Ungaro was the speculation published by some foreign media, on the grounds of OSCE's information and adopted by part of the Macedonian media, that some civilians from the village of Ljuboten were massacred. Carlo Ungaro denied that any OSCE officials have given such an information about the affair. "We expressed satisfaction with the attitude of OSCE so far and its objective informing referring to the Macedonian population, delivered to the international community," ...

Nato ambassadors are due to meet in Brussels on Wednesday morning to decide whether to start deploying 3,500 troops in Macedonia to oversee the disarmament of ethnic Albanian rebels. The meeting will be bolstered by news that ethnic Albanian rebels have agreed to hand over their weapons, one of the prerequisites for Nato's deployment. But the other main pre-condition for Nato's Operation Essential Harvest, a durable ceasefire, looked less concrete. There have been continuing reports of small-scale fighting in and around the northern city of Tetovo since politicians from the two sides signed the peace accord on Monday. First arrivals ...

Skopje, August 14 (MIA)-Commenting the address of DPA Leader Arben Xhaferi in Albanian language, delivered for the media after the official signing of the Frame Document, Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski said, "by using small-scale provocations, someone is trying to gain profits, without being given the right to impair the agreed decisions." "Firstly, I consider that the address of Xhaferi in Albanian language does not correspond to what we have agreed and is stated in the Frame Document. There was only a bad interpretation, given by his side. Secondly, even if the interpretation was correct, conditionally taken, the Frame Document is ...

Yesterday, during the final stage of signing of the peace agreement in the Presidential Residency on Vodno, just a few hundred meters bellow, three Albanian terrorists were arrested during the attempt to enter the yard of the State Hospital in Skopje. Eyewitnesses claim that the terrorist refused to surrender and get out of the vehicle on the hospital gate. The police reacted eminently, overcoming the terrorists by force, but without shooting, and took them into custody. The Bomb squad arrived shortly on the spot, and in the van with foreign license plates, discovered a significant amount of classic dynamite.

EXTRACTS If the council waits too long to launch the mission, the fragile peace deal could start to unravel. If NATO moves too quickly, it could find itself deploying in the middle of a renewed conflict. The deployment is planned to last only 30 days. One fear, however, is that a deteriorating situation could force NATO to extend it. NATO military officials say that if the Macedonian cease-fire breaks down, the mission will withdraw. Later in the day, NATO military officials said, the rebels gave an official figure on the weapons. NATO officials were working with the Macedonian government ...