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2003-09-02 Europe
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Macedonian Troops, ANA Rebels in Standoff
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Another day, another Balkans conflict.
Macedonian authorities say they will not withdraw troops encircling a northern village until they capture a fugitive rebel leader — ignoring demands by a shadowy ethnic Albanian militant group to end the siege. Hundreds of ethnic Albanian villagers have fled from their homes in Vaksince since the operation began Sunday, fearing clashes similar to those that shook the tiny Balkan nation in 2001. The clashes between government forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents ended in a Western-brokered peace plan, but tensions persist.
Of course tensions persist, itâs the Balkans!
Troops and police have used helicopters, trucks and roadblocks to surround Vaksince, about 10 miles northeast of the capital, Skopje. ``There will be no negotiations, no consideration of any demands or ultimatums with the self-styled rebel commanders,ââ said Saso Colakovski, Macedoniaâs government spokesman. ``The government is determined to carry on without any compromise in a struggle to isolate these criminals.ââ Macedonian forces have massed troops around Vaksince in the search for Albanian militant, Avdil Jakupi. It was not clear if Jakupi was in the area, but reporters visiting Vaksince on Monday saw armed men in the almost empty village. Jakupi is believed to be a leader of the self-styled Albanian National Army, or ANA, which has taken responsibility for several armed attacks in Macedonia since the peace agreement took force. Fears of clashes have risen in recent weeks, following grenade attacks on government buildings in Skopje.
Thatâll do it.
| Fires me up, every time it happens... |
Late Monday, ANA issued an ultimatum to the Macedonian police forces to withdraw from around Vaksince. In statement posted on its Web site, ANA gave a 24-hour ultimatum, expiring Tuesday afternoon, to Macedonian troops to pull out or its members would ``use any means available to accomplish a patriotic duty.ââ
A threatening note on a website. Sigh,I miss the good old days when your rebel forces had to storm a radio station, and fought off the storm troopers while the beautiful heroine pleaded for the people to rise up while the anthem of the old republic plays in the backround.
The group said in a fresh statement Tuesday that its forces were on standby for the ``liberation of (ethnic Albanians) ... and unification of ethnic Albanian lands in a single state.ââ
Greater Albania(tm), yeah, thatâll go over well with the neighbors.
International officials in Macedonia, meanwhile, searched for a solution to defuse the standoff.
Ethnic Albanian parliament members and deputies from the northern Kumanovo region, where Vaksince is located, agreed to accompany representatives from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to Vaksince to negotiate an end to the standoff.
You want an end, just kill him. 
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Posted by Steve 2003-09-02 12:47:58 PM||
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