MACEDONIA: NATO TROOPS ON KOSOVO STANDBY
(22 Feb 1999) Eng/Macedo/Nat Hundreds of NATO troops in Macedonia are standing by to remove international monitors from nearby Kosovo should the peace talks in Rambouillet collapse. The Nato allies have set a new deadline for Serbs and ethnic Albanians to accept a peace agreement after the two sides failed to do so by noon on Saturday. Meanwhile the Macedonian people are watching the talks anxiously, hoping they will not be drawn into the conflict. NATO forces are gathering in Macedonia in anticipation of military intervention in the conflict in neighbouring Kosovo. An 18-hundred-member NATO force is on hand in case talks in Rambouillet, France fail to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the troubled province. If diplomatic efforts collapse and NATO decides to launch airstrikes, the first sign of that decision is likely to be the departure of the O-S-C-E monitors. That will be overseen by this NATO extraction force. The force has been in place since mid-December, two months after President Slobodan Milosevic and U-S envoy Richard Holbrooke struck a deal to end seven months of fighting in Kosovo. It is under French command and includes about 700 French, 350 British and 200 soldiers each from Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. But the soldiers can only wait for a decision from the talks on how to resolve calls by ethnic Albanians in Kosovo for autonomy from Serbia. An estimated 2-thousand people have been killed in the last year since Serb President Slobodan Milosevic launched a campaign to stamp out resistance in the renegade province. A further 10-thousand have been left homeless. Diplomatic discussions in Rambouillet were seen as the final attempt to avoid military intervention by NATO. An outcome to the often acrimonious talks had been expected by noon on Saturday. But with all sides still locked in debate over Serb refusals to accept a NATO ground force in Kosovo, the deadline for a decision was put back to Tuesday afternoon. The massed troops watched the news from their hotel in the Macedonian capital Skopje. But despite the delays in resolving the conflict, the soldiers say they are ready to go into Kosovo if needed. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Well we've been training extremely hard over the last few months as the extraction force so we're ready to go into Kosovo at very short notice. We're well equipped; a lot of training. So we're ready to confront almost anything that may occur if we cross the border." SUPER CAPTION: Captain Wayne Hennessy-Barrett,1st Battalion of the King's Own Royal Border Regiment (British Army) Meanwhile they live as normally as possible. While the deadline for a resolution draws nearer and the threat of punitive strikes on Serb positions across the border grows, British and Macedonian troops find ways of passing the time. But Mark Dickinson, the British Ambassador to Macedonia sees it as more than just a game of football. He says it is a way of safeguarding an atmosphere of normality in a troubled region. SOUNDBITE: (English) "The Balkans is a pretty abnormal region at the moment but it doesn't have to be like that. Macedonia is a fairly normal country in it. And in the end our troops are here to bring normality to the region. So I think it's pretty symbolic they're doing something normal like playing football." SUPER CAPTION: Mark Dickinson, British Ambassador to Macedonia Ordinary Macedonians are also watching the Rambouillet talks closely. On Sunday morning the decision to extend the deadline to Tuesday dominated the front pages of the Skopje newspapers Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
