APTN joins NATO contingent
(23 Aug 2001) 1. French military jeep on tarmac 2. French jeep driving down road 3. Various French soldiers collecting firewood 4. French soldiers looking at map 5. Various shots mechanical digger helping to build camp 6. Wide shot barn 7. Soldier, pan down to rifles on ground 8. Various shots French soldier in hangar testing rifle 9. Various shots soldiers in map room 10. SOUNDBITE: (French) Captain Demien de Besombes, 2nd Foreign Legion "The mission falls into the category of agreements formed between NATO, the Macedonian government, and those in charge of the NLA, so we are here at their request, and we have perfect confidence in what we are doing, and we are ready to carry out the mission which has been assigned to us." 11. Various shots soldiers in maproom 12. Wide shot interior of hangar with equipment 13. French soldier tries on flak jacket 14. More shots, soldiers gathering firewood STORYLINE: More French soldiers arrived to carry out NATO's disarmament mission in Macedonia on Thursday, joining the 400 communications and headquarters personnel already on the ground in the capital Skopje. NATO officials said complete deployment would take approximately 10 days to two weeks, but the job of collecting rebel arms and transporting them to a central location for destruction could begin well before all the troops have arrived. The French Defence Ministry said it was sending "the major part" of its forces on Wednesday, an initial 185 troops. Another 350 troops are being transported by ship. The arrival of the French contingent follows NATO's decision to authorise deployment of 3,500 troops to Macedonia. They could begin collecting weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels early next week. The French troops will join soldiers from 11 other nations. Aside from the French contingent, 18-hundred of the troops are from Britain, and the rest from the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Turkey and the United States. 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...
