Albanian rebels bring Balkan war closer

ETHNIC Albanian gunmen fought long battles with Macedonian security forces on the edge of the country's second city, Tetovo, yesterday, bringing closer the prospect of a new Balkan war.

The hills on Macedonia's north-eastern frontier reverberated with mortar fire last night as Macedonian troops pressed on with a so-far unsuccessful operation to drive rebels from their base and quell the uprising before it engulfs the country. Carl Bildt, the United Nations Balkans envoy, said: "I am very alarmed. This is one of the worst pieces of news to come out of the Balkans for many years."

In Macedonia's worst violence since it won independence from Yugoslavia a decade ago, scores of rebels took up positions in the outskirts of Tetovo and opened fire on special forces who replied with mortars and heavy machine-guns. Last night, crowds of residents were fleeing the area by car or on foot, carrying bags full of belongings as minibuses arrived to ferry the panicked civilians away from the fighting.

Ljubco Georgievski, the Prime Minister, said it was too early to declare a state of war but added: "Those who want to cause war in Macedonia should know that we will use all means at our disposal and we will not be selective in choosing our allies if we are forced to . . . including Nato."

The latter option seems a forlorn hope for the moment as alliance officials said there were no plans to send combat troops to Macedonia and the fighting was a domestic issue. Macedonia, with its large ethnic Albanian minority, has up to now avoided the bloodshed that marked the break-up of Yugoslavia.

But the West has long feared that a conflict there could suck in neighbouring Greece and Bulgaria, which have old claims to the region. The Nato general in charge of international peacekeepers in neighbouring Kosovo gave warning last night that the Macedonia fighting could destabilise the province.

Lt-Gen Carlo Cabigiosu, an Italian, said: "Any kind of tension is worrying, not only for the stability of Macedonia but also for what is going on in Kosovo." Tetovo is a symbol of the aspirations of Macedonia's Albanians. They make up about 30 per cent of its population of 200,000.

The fighting there began yesterday morning when up to 200 gunmen took up positions on the Sarr mountains on the northern edge of the city and began shooting at Macedonian special forces who replied with fire from mortars and heavy machine-guns. The ensuing gun battles caused hundreds of residents, most of them Macedonians, to flee to the capital, Skopje.

The shooting died down at 3.30pm, but last night residents said Tetovo was deserted as the population took police advice to stay indoors from 6pm to 6am. Early casualty reports said only that two Albanians in the city had been injured by stray bullets. In clashes on Wednesday a civilian was killed and 14 people were wounded, 11 of them policemen.

As troops took up positions, some aiming sniper rifles at the mountains, shooting intensified. Although some people from the closest buildings in the Macedonian quarter of Tetovo quit their homes in fear, others stayed to cheer on the troops. An armoured personnel carrier took up a position at the end of a narrow street and fired long bursts from a heavy machine-gun at the mountainside.

Grenades were heard exploding and the woods filled with smoke. A political crisis was developing last night as fears deepened that the tiny and poorly equipped Macedonian security forces are incapable of containing the rebels, who boast that they have the ability to strike anywhere in the country.

The government is believed to be considering introducing martial law, which would put enormous strain on the moderate Albanian DPA party, which is a partner in the ruling coalition. Its leader, Arben Xhaferi, has offered to leave the government if Albanians want him to. The decision would inevitably hasten the polarisation of the two communities that the rebels are working to bring about.

There was also sustained fighting yesterday around Malina Mala, just inside Macedonia's north-western border with Kosovo. The sound of light artillery fire rolled off the hills as Macedonian troops continued a sweep begun on Monday to dislodge about 200 rebels who had been holed up in a group of mountain hamlets.

Some reports said fighting had spread to Lipkovo, 12 miles north-east of Skopje. Nato-led Kfor troops on the Kosovo side of the border are supposed to act as a deterrent but have clearly failed to prevent the build-up of the rebels, the National Liberation Army, who partly rely on Kosovo as a rear base and jumping-off point.

The continuing violence has extinguished hopes that the NLA actions would be short-lived. Mr Georgievski said: "At first, we thought they were just criminals, but according to our information now it seems that they have strong political and logistic support from structures in Kosovo."

The rebels claim they want not to break up Macedonia but to create a federation of Albanian and Macedonian autonomous areas.