SKOPJE, Macedonia (Islamweb & News Agencies) - NATO took its first tentative steps toward involvement in Macedonia Friday, sending a small detachment of troops to scout out the situation and see if a full force should be sent to collect Albanian weapons.NATO's ruling council decided Friday to defer until early next week a decision on whether to send in the rest of the troops. Gen. Joseph Ralston, the supreme allied commander in Europe, planned to travel to the capital, Skopje, on Monday to take part in the assessment process.
These initial troops are likely to face an icy reception from majority Macedonians and a hero's welcome from minority ethnic Albanians - underscoring the deep divisions in the troubled Balkan nation after six bitter months of conflict.
Meanwhile, claims of cease-fire violations persisted Friday. NATO has said a lasting truce must be in place before its troops can deploy and insists its mission is not to disarm ethnic Albanian fighters, but to collect weapons voluntarily handed in.
A transport plane carrying 15 French support troops arrived in Skopje Friday, followed by a contingent of 40 members of Britain's 16 Air Assault Brigade. Earlier, the Czech Republic sent in 120 soldiers to protect the advance party.
About 350 more British soldiers will arrive over the weekend to lay the groundwork for the British-led mission.
These initial troops, mostly headquarters and communications personnel, will study the military situation on the ground and complete plans for the eventual deployment of about 3,500 troops for the British-led Operation Essential Harvest.
Macedonian government spokesman Antonio Milososki said Friday that he doubted NATO could succeed without forcing the Albanians to hand in guns ``It is impossible without using force to succeed in collecting weapons,'' he said.
Slav-dominated Macedonian forces and ethnic Albanian fighters clashed sporadically in the northwestern corner of the country overnight and early Friday, and the government accused the Albanians of violating a cease-fire agreement. But Albanian fighters spokesman Nazmi Beqiri denied the fighters had started the attacks, saying they merely responded to army provocations.
``It's very serious, because from our side, we agreed to give up our weapons,'' he said. ``We believe that after NATO comes in, none of the sides will react and cause cease-fire violations.''
PHOTO CAPTION:
The spokesman of the NATO forces in Macedonia, U.S. Major Barry Johnson, speaks to the media during a news conference in Skopje, Macedonia, Friday, Aug. 17, 2001. In the conference NATO announced that the first small detachment of British advance troops will arrive to Macedonia on Friday to take a hard look at the precarious situation and prepare for the full deployment of a mission to collect rebel weapons. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)