KFOR ARRESTS ANOTHER 35 SUSPECTED GUERRILLAS

PRISTINA, Aug 28 (Hina) - Another 35 suspected Albanian guerrillas have been arrested while trying to illegally enter Kosovo from Macedonia, Kosovo Force (KFOR) officials said on Tuesday. With the latest arrests, the number of suspected guerrillas the KFOR has arrested since Friday has risen to 180. The arrests took place on Monday, after NATO forces in Macedonia started collecting weapons from National Liberation Army (NLA) guerrillas as part of NATO's operation Essential Harvest. None of the guerrillas arrested on Monday carried weapons, KFOR spokesman in Pristina Howard Rhoades said. KFOR officials believe that not all of the arrested guerrillas are from Kosovo. The KFOR has detained 785 suspected guerrillas since it intensified patrols along the mountainous border between Kosovo and Macedonia last week. A KFOR spokesman said yesterday there were no indications that the guerrillas were transferring weapons to Kosovo in order to avoid its hand-over to NATO forces in Macedonia. The spokesman says it is possible NLA commanders have disbanded their units and are allowing troops to return home after they leave weapons in Macedonia. KFOR has stepped up border control after the Macedonian government objected that many Albanian rebels fighting Macedonian forces were coming from Kosovo. (hina) rml