PRISTINA, Aug 26 (Hina) - Ali Ahmeti, the political representative of the Macedonian Albanians' National Liberation Army (NLA), told BBB radio on Sunday morning he was an optimist confident his soldiers would respect an agreement on
the hand-over of weapons. Ahmeti accused some structures of the Macedonian government of not wanting peace, but added these elements would eventually be defeated. He said the implementation of a peace agreement was proceeding well, and added the NLA was not interested in having Albanian guerrillas keep weapons as they were satisfied with the recently initiated processes to settle the status of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia. Albanians have confidence in the European Union, the United States and NATO, Ahmeti said, hopeful NATO would successfully complete its weapon-collecting mission in Macedonia. Asked to comment on some Albanian politicians' claims that the Albanian guerrilla pos
PRISTINA, Aug 26 (Hina) - Ali Ahmeti, the political representative
of the Macedonian Albanians' National Liberation Army (NLA), told
BBB radio on Sunday morning he was an optimist confident his
soldiers would respect an agreement on the hand-over of weapons.
Ahmeti accused some structures of the Macedonian government of not
wanting peace, but added these elements would eventually be
defeated.
He said the implementation of a peace agreement was proceeding
well, and added the NLA was not interested in having Albanian
guerrillas keep weapons as they were satisfied with the recently
initiated processes to settle the status of ethnic Albanians in
Macedonia.
Albanians have confidence in the European Union, the United States
and NATO, Ahmeti said, hopeful NATO would successfully complete its
weapon-collecting mission in Macedonia.
Asked to comment on some Albanian politicians' claims that the
Albanian guerrilla possessed 80,000 pieces of weaponry, Ahmeti
said it was just psychological propaganda which did not help but
intimidated the Macedonian people. He urged the authorities to
refrain from spreading such misinformation.
On Saturday evening, officials of NATO and Macedonia's authorities
managed to come close to agreeing as to the quantity of weaponry the
Albanian guerrilla should hand over. Negotiations are not over yet
as the Macedonian side refuses the starting figure of 3,000-3,500
pieces, claiming the quantity is twice that, said NATO officials.
According to Ahmeti, certain incidents allegedly recorded in the
Tetovo and Kumanovo areas are also part of the propaganda.
He confirmed the Albanian guerrillas were holding a certain number
of Macedonian civilians captured in areas where the NLA operated,
but added the NLA was tackling the issue with representatives of the
International Committee of the Red Cross. He is confident the
matter will be resolved successfully.
Albanian guerrillas have no interest in keeping Macedonian
Albanians in prisons, Ahmeti said, adding a certain number did not
want to return to their homes fearing they might be court-
martialled in Macedonia.
(hina) ha