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CNN Live At Daybreak

Macedonia Nears Brink of Civil War

Aired June 26, 2001 - 07:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Macedonia may be on the brink of civil war after a NATO--brokered cease-fire agreement with ethnic Albanian rebels sparked fierce protests.

Journalist Juliette Terzieff joins us on the telephone from the capital of Skopje.

Juliette, last we heard, 5,000 protesters were swarming the capital. Who are these people and what exactly is happening right now?

JULIETTE TERZIEFF, JOURNALIST: Yes. Good morning Carol.

That's correct. About 5,000 Macedonians stormed the parliament late last night, demanding the resignation of Macedonia President Boris Trajkovski. They said they were furious at him over his handling of a former old conflict between the two main ethnic groups in this country, the Macedonians and the ethnic Albanians.

There are ethnic Albanian rebels numbered in the thousands fighting all over the northern part of the country for greater rights for the Albanians. This is what they say. The Macedonian officials call them terrorists bent on carving up the country. Now, the protesters yesterday were angry at the president for allowing the rebels to withdraw from a suburb of the capital, Skopje, and take their arms with them -- Carol.

LIN: So, Juliette, I understand that Americans are also involved in this conflict at this point. Some actions on their part may have been the catalyst for some of these protests. What did they do?

TERZIEFF: Yes, that's correct. As part of the deal brokered over the weekend for a cease-fire, American and French KFOR troops that are in Macedonia as logistical support for the Kosovo peacekeeping mission were scheduled to escort the rebels from the village of Aracinovo, just on the outside of Skopje, to a village further back, where they would -- one that is already under their control, where they would stay.

Now, during that transfer, American personnel came under fire. And yesterday afternoon, two of them were reported to be injured. They were helicoptered out of the area to a hospital someplace here in the Balkans on an American base. And their condition is said to be stable at the moment. However, the same cannot be said for the cease-fire. There has been fighting both in the northeast and the northwestern parts of the country overnight and this morning, with both sides trading allegations on who started the fire -- Carol.

LIN: All right, thank you very much, Juliette Terzieff, watching the situation there for us here at CNN.

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