Commentary in bold provided by yours truly
dailynews.yahoo.com
Slavs Protest NATO Deal in Macedonia
By COLLEEN BARRY, Associated Press Writer
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - A NATO (news - web sites)-brokered
peace deal sparked riots in Skopje Monday by thousands of Slavs,
some chanting ``gas chambers for the Albanians'' as they demanded that
ethnic Albanian rebels be destroyed.[ those cannibal ethnic cleanser Slavs again...hey, any journalist cared to ask what are the reasons behind their actions, other than to "destroy the Albanian rebels...same BS we are fed again]
The rebels pulled out of a strategically important suburb near the capital
earlier Monday under the NATO deal designed to revive peace talks
here.
That prompted about 5,000 Macedonian Slavs - who outnumber ethnic
Albanians by more than three to one - to gather in front of parliament in
Skopje, nosily demanding harsher action against the rebels. Reservists in
uniform among the protesters squeezed of bursts of submachine gun fire,
but there were no reports of injuries.[can the Slavs "behave"?<g>]
Some of the chanting protesters pounded two police cars - one
belonging to Interior Minister Ljuben Boskoski - while dozens broke
into the parliament building, destroying furniture. A group made its way
to a balcony and displayed the former Macedonian flag, replaced more
than half a century ago by the communists when the country was still
part of Yugoslavia.[they are not only uncivilized ethnic cleansers but communists too...maybe they deserve what "peace" terms they are getting? remember Rambouillet?]
The rebel withdrawal came just days after government forces began an
offensive against ethnic Albanian militants holed up in the suburb not far
from the country's airport.
Buses headed out of Aracinovo carrying ethnic Albanian rebels, said
U.S. Maj. Barry Johnson, a spokesman for the NATO-led
peacekeepers. The alliance then sent at least four trucks to the village to
take out the weapons belonging to the rebels.[NATO provides transportation now out in the open...and if they got any weapons from them I am the Pope
But de-escalation of Macedonia's crisis was short lived. New fighting,
near Tetovo, cast a pall at the success of the negotiated end to the
Aracinovo standoff, and tensions rose as thousands of angry Slavic
Macedonians demanded a more hard-line approach against the rebels.
Police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said rebels attacked
police positions on the outskirts of the city and government forces
returned fire, with fighting then moving away from Tetovo and near the
village of Gajre in the hills overlooking the city.
In a smaller protest, a crowd near Kumanovo blocked a road,
preventing empty buses from moving shortly after they were used to
take some of the rebels from Aracinovo to Umin Dol, just outside
Kumanovo. U.S. soldiers were with that convoy, along with
Macedonian police who tried to negotiate their way through the crowd.[ NATO is now National Albanian Taxi Organization]
Johnson said more than 300 people, most of them rebels, were taken
out of Aracinovo.
Talks had broken down last week after President Boris Trajkovski
declared that ethnic Albanian negotiators were unwilling to budge on
key sticking points in the negotiations.
The lack of progress has dismayed European Union (news - web sites)
leaders, who have been trying for months to persuade the Macedonian
Slav leadership and ethnic Albanian political leaders to compromise and
avert civil war.[avert, oh peace loving NATO again????LOL
To back up that point, the EU told the country's foreign minister on
Monday not to count on new financial aid unless the government and
ethnic Albanian opponents settle their differences.[accept our terms or you starve, ask Kostunica
The EU foreign ministers held 45 minutes of talks with their Macedonian
counterpart, Ilinka Mitreva, who pleaded for help.
EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten reiterated that was
only possible if progress is made in national reconciliation talks.
``We would like to support confidence-building measures, but it is
difficult to build people's confidence when money, which is very clearly
in short supply, is being spent on bombs and rockets,'' Patten said.[LOL, another clown
An American, meanwhile, was wounded by gunfire.
The man's status was unclear - NATO officials suggested he might have
been part of a monitoring mission or a diplomat. [ how about CIA trainer?The man, overheard
identifying himself as John Green, was emerging from the woods with
two other Americans near the rebel-controlled village of Grusinovo
when Macedonian troops fired warning shots.[they were out barbecuing]
Two of the shots wounded Green, one in the arm and the other in the
leg, but apparently not seriously. In Washington, meanwhile, the
Pentagon (news - web sites) said a U.S. army sergeant was wounded in
the hand by gunfire on a road northeast of Skopje. Aracinovo is
southwest of Skopje, but NATO officials could not rule out that the
Pentagon report also referred to the man identifying himself as Green.
NATO-led peacekeepers are in Macedonia to provide logistical
support to forces in Kosovo. It was not immediately clear which NATO
countries were taking part in the operation. |
