Macedonia Government

Ethnic Albanian politicians expressed "serious objections" Sunday to a new Western-backed peace plan for Macedonia on the eve of talks to help end an insurgency here that has threatened to develop into civil war. The ethnic Albanian leaders did not formally reject the draft, which is meant to reconcile Macedonia's majority Slavs and minority ethnic Albanians. The parties were to meet today to negotiate.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana rallied Macedonia's fractious political leaders behind a peace plan on Saturday as the army pounded ethnic Albanian rebels at four villages with artillery fire. He spoke as rebels solidified control elsewhere, in a small town within sight of Skopje, the capital. The government vowed to retake Aracinovo, just six miles east of Skopje, the closest the 4-month-old conflict has come to the capital.

Macedonia's emergency coalition government faltered Thursday after the prime minister offered to meet ethnic Albanians' demands to change the constitution but then found himself facing vehement objections from another party's leader. Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski said Wednesday that if Macedonia wants to avoid further bloodshed, it must change its constitution to upgrade the status of the ethnic Albanian minority--a key request by rebels fighting government troops in the country's north.

Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski triumphantly toured a virtually deserted and heavily damaged northern Macedonian village Saturday after government forces drove out ethnic Albanian rebels who had held it for three weeks, but fierce fighting erupted just a few miles away.

Heeding Western calls for restraint, Macedonian government forces held their fire Thursday as a deadline passed for ethnic Albanian rebels holed up in northern villages to surrender. Sporadic clashes, which the army blamed on the militants, were reported early Thursday, and a brief firefight erupted later. But the front line, near Macedonia's border with the Yugoslav province of Kosovo, remained quiet as the deadline passed at noon.

Macedonia's parliament on Sunday overwhelmingly endorsed a national unity government meant to defuse a conflict with ethnic Albanian insurgents that threatens the country with civil war. As the session convened, however, rebels attacked government positions in two northern villages, and government troops retaliated with artillery and tanks, suggesting that the new multi-party Cabinet was no guarantee of a permanent cease-fire. The clashes died down after nearly five hours, the army said.

This country's disparate political parties forged a new coalition government Friday, offering a measure of stability amid a struggle to quell an ethnic Albanian insurgency. The so-called national unity government emerged after a key ethnic Albanian party dropped its objections to joining. The coalition replaces Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski's previous, smaller alliance.

Ethnic Albanian rebels declared a cease-fire Wednesday and renewed their call for talks with the Macedonian government, which has repeatedly said it will not negotiate with what it calls terrorists. The guerrilla National Liberation Army announced the moves in a taped statement broadcast on television Wednesday afternoon in neighboring Kosovo, a province of Serbia, the main Yugoslav republic.