|
Thousands Pour Out of Macedonian Town After Clashes
SKOPJE, July 25 (News Agencies) - Some 8,000 people fled their homes in the flashpoint northwestern town of Tetovo following clashes between Macedonian forces and ethnic Albanian combatants, a government crisis committee said Wednesday.
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Macedonian capital of Skopje could not confirm the figure given by the government-run body, but its officials said there was "a real movement" of people in the region.
"It is impossible for us to say whether there are hundreds or thousands of people," ICRC spokeswoman Amanda Williamson, told the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The ICRC has also indicated that some 1,800 people have registered as displaced persons, just in the past 48 hours; but the number of those fleeing their homes was estimated to be higher since many do not register with the refugee agencies.
Williamson said there were "panic movements" in Tetovo, where citizens were rushing to shops in order to stock up on food and other goods.
Tetovo, whose 60,000 inhabitants are mostly ethnic Albanians, was the scene of clashes between government forces and Albanian guerrillas on Monday and Tuesday, despite a NATO-brokered ceasefire "enforced" since July 5.
Two people, including a 12-year old girl, were killed and more than 30 were injured during the clashes on Monday.
Describing the situation in Macedonia as "critical", NATO Secretary General George Robertson announced that he would travel to Skopje on Thursday with top EU and OSCE officials in efforts to pull the country back from the brink of all-out war.
Robertson told a news conference here Wednesday that he would press for a return to a ceasefire following riots and fighting around the flashpoint town of Tetovo, which have threatened to bring more bloodshed to the Balkans.
"The situation in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia is critical," said Robertson after announcing the visit with EU foreign policy representative Javier Solana and president of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mircea Geoana.
"The country faces grave decisions. And I call on all those involved to demonstrate leadership by taking the right decisions to follow the path to peace and not to war," Robertson said.
The secretary general warned Skopje to veer away from a military option to end the conflict with ethnic Albanian combatants who are fighting government forces for minority rights.
"Any efforts to resolve the situation militarily can only result in the wreckage of the country and the inflicting of grave civilian casualties," he said.
NATO diplomats said the goal was to avoid, at all costs, a slide toward an all-out war between Macedonia's Slav and ethnic Albanian communities.
The NATO chief accused "key figures" in the Macedonian government of stoking tensions, lashing back at Skopje for charging that NATO was siding with ethnic Muslim Albanian combatants in the conflict.
The government tirade against NATO was followed by rioting in Skopje, during which about 2,000 mainly Macedonian Slav demonstrators, many of them young, hooded and armed with sticks, set fire to vehicles and buildings and smashed the windows of the British and German embassies and a McDonald's restaurant.
"Some key figures have used their position of authority to inflame public opinion... about NATO's role in the conflict," Robertson said. "That has helped to create the environment for such attacks."
"Such irresponsible behavior must end," he asserted.
"It is not fair, it is not right, it is not accurate in any way to accuse NATO of being one-sided in this conflict," Robertson said.
On Tuesday, the government in Skopje accused NATO of siding with the combatants and of seeking to turn Macedonia into an international protectorate under the control of the alliance.
"NATO is not an enemy of Macedonia, but, at the same time, it is a big friend of our enemies," government spokesman Antonio Milososki said.
The three envoys will meet with Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski, members of the government and political leaders during their visit.
Robertson said he would not be seeking an immediate political settlement, noting that the EU envoy, Francois Leotard, and his U.S. counterpart James Pardew, were tasked with that effort in Skopje.
But, he asserted that seeking a political settlement was "the only viable option available."
"All provocations must cease. We believe that a political solution is possible. It is very close," he said.
A European diplomat noted that the only obstacle in the way of a political settlement was the language issue, which has ethnic Albanians pressing for 'Albanian' to be made an official language.
Macedonia's Slav majority opposes bilingualism, arguing it would open the door to secession.
|
