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Fighting Rages As Macedonia Rejects Talks
SKOPJE, May 22 (News Agencies) - Macedonia's top security body moved swiftly Tuesday to quash speculation Skopje was preparing to open talks with Muslim Albanian rebels after a minister negotiated the release of a rebel-held captive.
Meanwhile, the rebels continued to needle government forces with sporadic attacks along Macedonia's hilly northern border with Kosovo.
The talks to secure the captured soldier's release were the first confirmed contacts between a member of the national unity government and the rebels, and their success was hailed as a good sign by some international officials.
"Today, more than yesterday, it is justified to feel a little optimism. We can talk about a step forward," said Carlos Ungaro, head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Macedonia.
But only hours after the release, the Macedonian national security council headed by President Boris Trajkovski met and drew up a strongly worded statement ruling out talks with those Skopje brands "terrorists".
"The political initiatives of the international community and the Macedonian authorities have not led to a positive reaction from the extremist armed groups," the statement said.
The government "would never accept negotiations with terrorists", it said.
Macedonia last week formed a government of national unity, including elected Muslim Albanian leaders, in a bid to unite moderate support behind a reform program and to politically isolate rebel leaders.
But the rebels of the National Liberation Army (NLA) have continued to mount attacks, demanding that they be included in talks on greater rights for Macedonia's Muslim Albanian minority.
The international community has urged Skopje to demonstrate "restraint" in its response to the attacks, fearing that escalating violence could radicalize opinion and force moderate Albanians to quit the government.
On Monday, however, the army's bombardments of a string of rebel held villages north of Skopje were heavier than ever, with tanks and helicopter gunships being used despite the presence of thousands of trapped civilians.
The council warned off those urging talks with the rebels, accusing "certain members of the international community" of giving "equal weight to terrorist leaders and Macedonia's legitimate political representatives."
The captured soldier, Goran Mitrovski, 21, had been seized on May 3rd in Vaksince, 16 miles (25 kilometers) north of Skopje, when a strong rebel force swept down out of the hills on Macedonia's northern border to capture a string of villages.
The release came after a Muslim Albanian minister contacted NLA representatives.
"I discussed this with NLA representatives, I would like to thank all those who made this possible," deputy health minister Muharam Nedzepi said on the private television channel Pelma.
Mitrovski was released "without serious pre-conditions, in the interest of peace," Nedzepi said, adding that he had been well treated.
State radio reported that rebels launched a mortar attack on police and army positions at a ski resort in the Sar Mountains, 40 miles (60 kilometers) from where the forces clashed outside rebel-held villages on Monday.
Several houses were damaged in the attack on the resort of Popova Sapka, about 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) above the mainly Albanian northwestern town of Tetovo, the radio said.
Government forces fired back at the rebels, who were operating from the village of Brodec, but no incidents were reported Tuesday in the other flashpoint area around villages 16 miles (25 kilometers) north of Skopje.
The Popova Sapka attack brought a worrying reminder that the rebels remain capable of launching strikes well beyond their core territory in the Black Mountains of Skopje, where a dozen villages are under their control.
The ongoing fighting in Macedonia contrasted sharply with the mood of optimism in southern Serbia, where the government, NATO and Albanian leaders persuaded rebels to lay down their arms after offering an amnesty.
NATO's envoy to southern Serbia had described Monday's negotiated ceasefire deal there as a "powerful message to the region" which "should be heard in Macedonia".
One of the NLA's commanders in the field, Commander Hoxha, told AFP by telephone: "We are not like the LAPMB, we've got nothing to do with them and we're not concerned in what goes on over there.
"We need first of all a response to our demands. For the moment we're continuing, we'll take it all the way," he said.
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