Macedonian tanks, howitzers, helicopters and long-range artillery blitzed ethnic Albanian guerrilla positions Tuesday as political parties finalized details of a national unity government.
Shells, rockets and machinegun fire hit targets in the villages of Slupcane and Vakcince, sending clouds of smoke into the air. Return fire appeared to be limited.
``The military operation will continue today in Slupcane and Vakcince,'' government spokesman Antonio Milosovski said. The two villages are seen as the main rebel strongholds and have been under bombardment since Thursday.
In the early hours, after marathon talks that included the European Union's top diplomat, Javier Solana, President Boris Trajkovski and leaders of all main parties, premier Ljubco Georgievski said a coalition government was all but in place.
``The great percentage of the deal is done. I am optimistic that we will form a grand coalition tomorrow. There is some fine-tuning to be done,'' he said.
Georgievski said that two main opposition parties -- the Slav-dominated Socialists and the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP) -- would join the government.
This would create an administration with a clear two-thirds majority in parliament, giving the coalition unchallenged power to enact new laws and make constitutional changes to deliver the promise of equal rights for ethnic Albanians.
Political sources said momentum was building for an all-encompassing coalition that would take in all 14 parties with seats in the national assembly.
CEASE-FIRE RUMORS
The Albanian PDP spokesman Zahir Bekteshi said his grouping was insisting that military operations against the rebels must stop before it agreed to join the government.
Government officials said they had no information about rumors of an imminent cease-fire declaration.
In Western eyes, the more promising strategy is to deprive the Albanian guerrillas of all plausible political support while driving them out without inflicting major civilian casualties.
The rebels may use the tactics they used in March when, after heavy fighting in the northwesterly Tetovo area, they retreated, only to strike in the northeast five weeks later.
Georgievski said the idea of declaring a ``state of war'' was off the agenda for now because ``Macedonian security forces conducted a successful operation (on Monday).''
Solana and NATO Secretary-General George Robertson had come to Macedonia to talk the government out of such an extreme move.
Solana, who spent all Monday in talks with government and party leaders, said before leaving Skopje that he believed they would ``reach some important agreements.''
Robertson said Macedonia was ``on the brink of an abyss'' and denounced the guerrillas as ``murderous thugs'' who had no mandate but were bent on destroying a small, fragile democratic state, using civilians as human shields.
FLOW OF REFUGEES
The main battleground is 20 miles northeast of the capital Skopje, near the main Greece-to-Hungary highway. It is a 15-minute drive from the Yugoslav border, where the highway runs north along the guerrilla-held edge of Serbia's Presevo Valley.
A Reuters reporter on the Kosovo border with Macedonia, north of the embattled villages, quoted locals Tuesday as saying they had heard 2,500 ethnic Albanian civilians were waiting to get across the frontier to safety in Kosovo.
Nearly 3,000 refugees crossed into Kosovo from Macedonia on Monday in the biggest one-day exodus, raising the total over five days to 6,600, according to the UNHCR refugee agency. In March, 10,000 fled to seek shelter.
The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of Macedonia's large Albanian minority, who have complained of discrimination in jobs, education and language rights for years.
They deny holding civilians hostage.
According to the government, some 3,500 villagers are being prevented from escaping to safety. International monitors say they have seen some indications of intimidation.
Macedonian army spokesman Blagoja Markovski said 50 rebels were occupying the village of Lojane, directly on the Serbian border. Serbia denied gunmen were infiltrating over the border -- NEAR VAKCINCE, Macedonia (Reuters)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
