E.U. backs Macedonian peace plan

By Vaiju Naravane

PARIS, JUNE 12. Albanian extremists declared a 24-hour ceasefire in Macedonia on Monday, shelving a threat to bomb the capital Skopje, after the Government announced a pause in an army assault on extremist strongholds.

The National Liberation Army said in an official statement signed by its political leader, Ali Ahmeti, that it was declaring a unilateral 24-hour ceasefire until 1:00 p.m. on June 12.

Two Albanians were killed and six severely wounded on June 11, during Macedonian army operations against Albanian guerillas around the village of Lipkovo, near Kumanovo town.

The local commander of the National Liberation Army (NLA), who goes by the name of Spati, told journalists that the victims were civilians.

Describing the situation in Lipkovo during the shelling as ``chaotic'', Spati said the fighting stopped at about noon, but that NLA commanders had ``yet to receive confirmation of an effective truce proclaimed by the Macedonian Government.

Macedonian security forces stopped their actions in the area of Kumanovo in order to prevent a humanitarian crisis, Mr. Nikola Dimitrov, the Macedonian President's National Safety Advisor, said.

According to Mr. Dimitrov, the ceasefire was effected in order to open a supply line near Lake Lipkovsko. Food and water were running low, he said.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will carry out the humanitarian mission.

European Union Foreign Ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday supported the Macedonian President, Mr. Boris Trajkovski 's peace plan which aims to disarm Albanian extremists.

They described the plan as `a constructive approach to overcoming the current crisis.'

The E.U. Ministers called on Skopje to begin implementing this plan ''as soon as possible`` and underlined their concern at the ''deteriorating security situation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,`` the danger of the conflict spreading beyond Macedonia's frontiers and of instability in the entire region.

They propose imposing a visa ban on Albanians who deal in smuggling, ''money laundering,`` and other crimes in western European countries, and who help Albanian extremists in Macedonia and elsewhere in the Balkans.

Imer Imeri, leader of the Party of Albanians' Democratic Prosperity warned on Sunday that if the Macedonian army continued its action against the extremists, the country would inevitably face a civil war.

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Section  : International
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