Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Rebel Threat Continues in Macedonia

Aired June 28, 2001 - 08:27   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: President Bush is moving to choke off funds for ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia and the U.S. State Department is urging Americans in Macedonia to now get out. Government forces claim control in some parts of the country, but elsewhere, the gunfire does continue.

Nic Robertson is covering the war in Macedonia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Macedonian army vehicles leave Aracinovo, as the government declares the situation calm. International monitors move in with Macedonian police to check through the town that came to symbolize the rebels' threat to Macedonian stability and to the capital, Skopje -- all around: signs of the heavy artillery barrage the government says convinced the rebels to leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We won the battle. Our forces are here to impose order and peace and so return the tranquility of the city of Skopje.

ROBERTSON: Armed police guard the towns now deserted main intersection and showed journalists what little the rebels left behind.

Few people remain here now. Those that did stay through the 2 1/2 weeks the rebels held sway say they had no problems until the government forces starting shelling.

"We lived in the basement without food for three days," he says, "while the police and army shot at us." An ethnic Albanian, he says he wonders how he could live with Macedonians now.

His friend says the rebels came from outside the town and were only there to fight for Albanian rights.

Marinca (ph) is Macedonian. She stayed when the rebels took control. She says they told her to carry on just like normal. Now she wonders if that's possible.

If the Macedonians are here," she says, "we'll stay. If they're not, we will leave." (on camera): The Macedonian government and international diplomats are keen to show their operation in Aracinovo was a success, that the rebels are gone and calm is restored. However, the situation in other rebel-held areas appears far from stable.

(voice-over): To the north, government troops continue their offensive against the rebels, reconfirming the image they want to convey to Macedonians: The government is in control.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Aracinovo, Macedonia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com