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NATO Okays Return Of Yugoslav Forces To Macedonian Border
BRUSSELS, March 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - NATO gave the green light Thursday for the "controlled return" of Yugoslav forces to a buffer zone bordering Kosovo and Macedonia where there have been attacks by ethnic Albanian gunman.
Serb forces will be allowed to enter the five-kilometer (three-mile) wide "ground safety zone" set up at the end of the 1999 Kosovo conflict, CNN reports. The strip runs the full length of the Kosovo-Serbia border
The depth of the area they will be able to occupy will be determined by the commander of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR), it adds.
In a statement, NATO Secretary General George Robertson said the alliance had agreed, "to authorizing ... the controlled return of FRY [Federal Republic of Yugoslavia] forces into the ground safety zone [GSZ], into a narrow sector next to the border with the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia."
"This is a first step in a phased and conditioned reduction of the GSZ," said Robertson, who was in Washington Thursday for a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush.
"Further controlled return to the GSZ should continue rapidly thereafter in defined sectors, subject to the approval of the North Atlantic Council," he said. "Access to the final sector which has seen the most conflict will be authorized [by NATO] at a later stage."
The opening of the strip on the Macedonian border is seen as the first step in a phased return of the ground safety zone to Serbian control and similar moves could be expected in the tense Presevo Valley region of southern Serbia, CNN reports.
Robertson said NATO ambassadors would convene in special session in Brussels on Friday with Macedonian Foreign Minister Srgjan Kerim, at Kerim's request.
Robertson added that the commander of the NATO-led Kosovo security force (KFOR) "should at this stage retain authority over the GSZ and air safety zone under the terms of the technical agreement."
NATO's announcement was made as 300 U.S. KFOR troops took control of the flashpoint village of Tanusevci, held by ethnic Albanian gunmen for over a month.
They met with no resistance, as the gunmen fled Tanusevci following four hours of fighting with Macedonian security forces described by Skopje's military officials as the heaviest so far.
U.S. Sergeant Robert Smith told AFP that NATO troops had thought the Albanian gunmen were still in the village when they entered. By midday Thursday, the peacekeepers were still securing the zone, but no incidents were reported.
Robertson said NATO was "fully committed" to Macedonia's "security, stability and territorial integrity.
"I welcome the common response of all citizens of ... Macedonia, including ethnic Albanians, in condemning attempts to destabilize their country," he said.
"NATO is determined that those extremist elements seeking to sow instability or to advance their political agenda by violent means will be stopped, whether in southern Serbia, in the Federal Republic of Macedonia or within Kosovo," said Robertson's statement.
"NATO will do all it can to facilitate the resolution of the problems in the region in order to continue to play a constructive role in the international efforts to bring lasting peace, security and stability to the Balkans," it said.
The U.N. Security Council has condemned the violence and urged political leaders in Macedonia and Kosovo to "isolate the forces behind the violent incidents," reports CNN.
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