ALBANIAN GUERRILLA CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR KILLING OF 8 MACEDONIAN SOLDIERS

PRISTINA, April 29 (Hina) - The National Liberation Army (NOV) in Macedonia on Sunday claimed responsibility for last night's killing of eight Macedonian soldiers and policemen near the town of Tetovo. In an interview to Radio Deutsche Welle, one of the commanders of the Albanian guerrilla accused Macedonian forces of having come too close to Albanian positions. "We have warned on several occasions that we have declared a unilateral cease-fire but the Macedonian forces were the ones to provoke (the NOV) and they came too close to our positions," commander Sokoli said. He expressed regret about the deaths of the Macedonian soldiers and called on citizens to not allow mobilisation in the Macedonian army "which is conducting a campaign of violence and terror against Albanians." The guerrilla commander dismissed the claim by the Macedonian authorities that after last night's incident the Albanian soldiers had withdrawn from Macedonia, and added that they were still on the same positions. Asked whether the incident was an isolated case or the beginning of wider conflicts, Sokoli said this depended on Macedonian forces and that NOV troops would respond to attacks. (hina) rml