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American Morning
Macedonian Conflict Stokes Fears of Civil War
Aired May 29, 2001 - 10:35 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Top officials of the European Union are struggling to broker a deal that might bring peace to the embattled sections of Macedonia.
We get the latest from CNN's Chris Burns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No letup in the government's three-week-old offensive to drive rebels out. Tanks and helicopter gunships fire at ethnic Albanian guerrillas dug into a handful of northern villages. Macedonian security forces pushed the rebels out of three villages last week, including the stronghold of Vakcince.
But the guerrillas, fighting for more rights for ethnic Albanians, held onto several others. The latest fighting centered on Slupcane and other villages. Shelling and gunfire struck a mosque in Matejce. Rebels hold a part of that village and attacked the police station several times. Security forces rolled in more reinforcements.
Thousands of civilians have been evacuated, but aid workers say the fighting has prevented them from bringing out thousands of others from rebel-held villages. The danger civilians face is what threatens the new multiethnic government.
The European Union's international policy chief came to save that governing coalition. Javier Solana, who lobbied hard to forge the so- called unity government in the first place, was here to try to hold it together.
JAVIER SOLANA, EU SECURITY CHIEF: I have to tell you very honestly everybody that I found very committed to breach the differences. I found good will on everybody, understanding and a conservative attitude. But I have to tell you also that there's still some differences remain.
BURNS: Slavic Macedonians, including President Boris Trajkovsky, are infuriated by a proposed peace deal by the rebels and ethnic Albanian leaders, including Arben Xhaferi. The deal calls for amnesty and a political role for the guerrilla.
The EU, along with the United States, have condemned the deal, but have also sought to keep the government from collapsing. (on camera): Some analysts and politicians fear the collapse of the coalition could be very dangerous for Macedonia, possibly signaling the beginning of a civil conflict. That's why some leaders in the government see no other choice but to stick together, for now.
Chris Burns, CNN, Skopje, Macedonia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: As we saw in that report from Chris Burns, the fighting has forced many people from their homes in Macedonia. Former pentagon spokesperson Ken Bacon is now the head of Refugees International and he joins us from Washington to examine that problem.
Good to see you, Ken.
KEN BACON, REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL: Nice to be back.
PHILLIPS: I was reading, though, actually, you don't necessarily think there's a big refugee problem. Is that true?
BACON: I think that between 10-12,000 people have left their homes and gone either to other parts of Macedonia or into Kosovo. Most are being well taken care of. The problem now is with the people who can't get out, who are trapped by the fighting, living in basements, running out of food. There are reports that they're eating their seed corn, the corn that they should planting now for the next harvest. They're eating because they're out of food. The Red Cross has been in there to help them, but more needs to be done.
PHILLIPS: Now, these are the civilians that you're talking about, right, that are trapped in the rebel-held areas?
BACON: Exactly right.
PHILLIPS: OK. Let's move on to the peace agreement for a moment between the ethnic Albanian leaders and the rebels. Do you think this was a mistake?
BACON: Yes, I do think it was a mistake. Let's be clear about what's at stake here. Macedonia has had a multiethnic government for a long while. Unlike Bosnia, unlike Serbia, it has a history of making multiethnic governments work over the last 10 years.
We have now a bunch of extremist rebels, very small, maybe 500 to 1,000 of them who are basically putting the whole country through warfare up in the north, and this is a choice between ethnic reconciliation and ethnic warfare.
The government has been very clear that it will not tolerate the rebel attacks, but it wants to work with the ethnic minority, the Albanian minority to resolve some of their grievances after the fighting ends.
PHILLIPS: All right, Ken, let's take a pause for moment. If you would please listen in to this news conference that's taking place with Colin Powell, Secretary of State Colin Powell in Budapest. He is said to be commenting possibly on Macedonia.
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