NATO mission on hold while arms debate rages
( 2001-08-26 09:34 ) (7 )

NATO's weapons collection mission in Macedonia was on hold late on Saturday as debate raged between alliance and government officials over how many arms ethnic Albanian rebels should hand over to be destroyed.

Government sources said that NATO offered to collect between 3,300 and 3,500 weapons from the rebel National Liberation Army (NLA), which has been fighting for greater minority rights since February.

But the figure falls well short of Skopje's assessments.

"We have information that the terrorists have more than 70,000 pieces of weapons and the number that NATO is presenting of 3,500 is laughable," Prime Minster Ljubco Georgievski said in reference to the NLA.

Quoting a well-informed source, Macedonian Independent television station A1 reported that the starting date for the NATO mission, known as Operation Essential Harvest, has been seriously brought into question.

The source said that NATO officials, including envoy Pieter Feith and General Gunnar Lange, had been unwilling to move towards Skopje's estimates of the number of arms .

Alliance spokesman Major Barry Johnson said he had not heard the reports, and that "we are continuing for our operation as planned".

A source close to the Macedonian presidency said Skopje was also angered by NATO's decision to increase the number of personnel taking part in the mission from 3,500 to between 4,500 and 5,000.

The mission, which is due to start early Monday, is scheduled to end in 30 days. The alliance wants to collect one third of the promised weapons by Friday, when parliament sits to debate implementing a wider peace agreement between Macedonian and ethnic Albanian political leaders.

Under the agreement, NLA rebels who hand in their arms will be granted an amnesty, the constitution will be amended to make Albanian an official language in some areas and more jobs in the police and administration will be provided for minorities.

Ethnic Albanians make up around one quarter of Macedonia's Slav-dominated population.

NATO has said the difference in weapons figures comes down to how the arms are counted -- whether explosives and ammunition should be counted along with rifles, mortars and stinger missiles.

A Western diplomatic source said Saturday that the government was divided on what number to accept, with hardliners wanting all offers rejected and moderates being cornered by the large estimates made public.

NATO had been optimistic earlier Saturday. A source close to the alliance said the difference between estimates was small and that an agreement should be reached over the weekend.

The source said NATO would hold more talks with the NLA and that it was important to reach agreement because Operation Essential Harvest has to begin Monday.

A military spokesman said the task force was ready to start its mission, but that the troops remain flexible on when it would begin.

Once a figure is agreed upon, the rebels will take their arms to up to 15 collection points set up in in an arc across the top of Macedonia.

An alliance spokesman said on Saturday that it was hoped that a team of Franco-British soldiers under French command would start collecting the first weapons.

Meanwhile more soldiers from the 12 NATO member nations taking part in the mission flew into Skopje. Troop numbers were expected to swell from 1,800 to 2,460 by late Saturday.

Italy sent in more than 200 military personnel, while Britain, which is leading the mission and whose contingent will make up around half of the task force, flew in 142 more.