Weapons harvest on track despite hurdles

SKOPJE - Nato soldiers yesterday collected hundreds more weapons from ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Macedonia after an initial day's haul of more than 400, but several potential obstacles to peace loomed.

Vowing not to be deterred by the death yesterday of a British soldier killed after his car was hit by a chunk of concrete thrown by youths, Nato hopes to have gathered by tomorrow a third of its total target of 3300 weapons in "Operation Essential Harvest".

Officers from the 4500-strong Task Force Harvest were pleased with Monday's first collection of weapons which the rebels have agreed to surrender as part of a peace plan meant to give greater rights to Macedonia's ethnic Albanian minority.

The Nato mission aims to help nip Macedonia's conflict in the bud and prevent the all-out warfare which engulfed many parts of the old Yugoslavia in the past decade.

While the precise circumstances remain unclear, the attack on the 20-year-old soldier offered a reminder that many of the Macedonian majority view Nato's mission with scepticism or downright hostility.

Several senior Macedonian politicians have made clear they believe the disarmament operation is a charade and that Nato's target figure is nothing like the full number of weapons held by the rebels, who began their insurgency in February this year.

Feelings may run high today as a group of Macedonians plan an Assumption Day visit to a monastery in the northwestern village of Lesok, where a church on one of the country's most revered Orthodox Christian sites was blown up last week.

The site is close to rebel-held territory but guerrilla leaders have denied they were responsible for the blast.

In another potential flashpoint, Macedonians displaced by the conflict are reported to be planning a rally in the capital Skopje on Friday - the eve of a parliamentary session meant to begin discussing the political parts of the peace plan.

A key question for many analysts is whether Macedonian deputies are ready to change the constitution and pass the new legislation required to turn the peace deal into reality.

The deal aims to create greater representation of ethnic Albanians in the police force and greater official use of the Albanian language, among other measures.

Nato insists that most Macedonians are not hostile to its mission and points out that its taskforce is in the former Yugoslav republic at the invitation of the Government.

- REUTERS

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