BRUSSELS (Islamweb & News Agencies) - NATO stood poised Wednesday to launch its third mission in the Balkans in a decade after the alliance's top commander said a cease-fire between Macedonian forces and ethnic Albanian fighters appeared to be holding firm.The 19 countries of the Atlantic alliance have until noon to register any objections to Operation Essential Harvest, which envisages the deployment of 3,500 NATO troops across the tiny ex-Yugoslav republic to collect the fighters' weapons. (Read photo caption below)
There were no reports of fresh clashes in Macedonia on Tuesday and diplomats said the destruction of a church in a 14th century Orthodox monastery, in an area dominated by the mostly Muslim fighters, was unlikely to affect NATO's deployment plans.
If no NATO country voices opposition to the planned operation by midday, troops could start arriving within 48 hours as part of a deployment likely to last up to two weeks.
They would then have 30 days to collect the fighters' weapons while parliament passes a string of laws aimed at improving the status of the big ethnic Albanian minority, which has long complained of discrimination by the ethnic Macedonian majority.
DISTRUST STRONG
U.S. General Joseph Ralston, NATO's supreme commander said,``The political process is progressing well and could not be better than what we have,'' , noting that President Boris Trajkovski had presented the reform package to parliament.
However, speaking in the Macedonian capital Skopje, Trajkovski took a swipe at the ethnic Albanian fighters of the National Liberation Army (NLA).
``They loudly speak about respect of the cease-fire in front of the cameras and the international media, but on the ground they are working quite different things,'' he said in English.
The Macedonian government blamed the NLA for the destruction of the Orthodox church in the village of Lesok. The Albanians denied responsibility.
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson condemned the attack as ``totally unacceptable.''
PHOTO CAPTION:
Capt. Gareth Hicks (C), liaison officer from the British 16 Air Assault Brigade, walks past a damaged mosque accompanied by an ethnic Albanian fighter (L), in the National Liberation Army stronghold village of Nikustak, north-west of the capital Skopje, August 20, 2001. NATO's supreme commander found favorable conditions for an alliance mission to disarm Albanians in Macedonia, making it more likely that it will be authorized soon by NATO ambassadors, diplomats indicated August 21. (Darko Bandic/Pool via Reuters)