WRAP adds Pardew, refugees to earlier item

(12 Aug 2001) Skopje 1. Pardew surrounded by cameras 2. SOUNDBITE: (English) James Pardew, US peace envoy "The political settlement is the best hope for peace in Macedonia and we are here to show the support of the United States for the political settlement and for peace in this country. The leaders should take this opportunity, seize the moment as I've said before, and bring peace here and they should sign the agreement tomorrow. (Q Is it likely to still happen tomorrow concerning the recent events?) As far I am concerned it will." Ljuboten 3. Wide shot of town in valley with smoke rising from building on the outskirts 4. Various of smoke around buildings, sounds of firing and shelling Ljuboten area 5. Distant shot of Albanians trying to leave villages in Ljuboten area that has been shelled 6. Smoke rising sound of gunfire Skopje 7. Bus station with crowd of angry Macedonians trying to set up check point to stop Albanians from fleeing Ljuboten 8. Close-up of helicopter overhead Road to Radusa 9. Various of tanks on road 10. Soldiers on tanks waving and giving thumbs up signs Checkpoint on the Skopje-Tetovo road 11. Various of Macedonian army checkpoint 12. Two K-FOR armoured personnel carriers at checkpoint waiting to be let through 13. Close-up of APC with soldier looking out 14. Various of a Macedonian fighter jet overhead 15. MI-24 combat helicopters flying overhead STORYLINE: Macedonian tanks and warplanes have attacked ethnic Albanian rebels on the outskirts of the capital Skopje and several other fronts. The fighting comes on the eve of the planned signing of a peace agreement which both sides have pledged to sign in an attempt to avert an all-out war. Speaking in Skopje on Sunday, U-S peace envoy James Pardew remained hopeful and said the agreement was the only hope for peace. Just five kilometres (three miles) north of Skopje in the ethnic Albanian village of Ljuboten, government troops pounded the ethnic Albanian village with mortars and tank fire. The government said the strike was prompted by an earlier rebel attack on a police station in the region. A rebel commander has warned that unless the attacks cease, his fighters will retaliate by targeting the nearby Macedonian-populated Skopje suburb of Radisani. Ethnic Albanians are attempting to evacuate villages in the area under attack, while Slavic Macedonians have been seen setting up a checkpoint, reportedly to stop them from fleeing. The authorities have closed all roads leading to Ljuboten, while there has been no comment from the government on the new offensive in which scores of houses are believed to have been destroyed. Government forces also closed the highway leading from the capital Skopje to the second-largest and mostly ethnic Albanian-populated city, Tetovo. Both the rebels and the government acknowledged they were fighting for control of a key road where ten Macedonian army soldiers died last week when rebels targeted a military convoy. Most of the border area reverberated with mortar fire that rebels said hit ethnic Albanian homes and other civilian property. But the government said it was the rebels who attacked first, killing four of their soldiers and two civilians. President Boris Trajkovski and Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski have also protested that the insurgents are getting armed support from ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo, which is run by the United Nations and NATO . It's also trying to rescue an unspecified number of policemen surrounded by ethnic Albanian rebels. 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...