Friday August 31, 2001

SKOPJE, Macedonia - NATO said yesterday it already had collected a third of the ethnic Albanian rebels' weapons ahead of schedule, opening the way for debate on constitutional reforms to give ethnic Albanians greater rights.

U.S. Maj. Barry Johnson, the NATO spokesman in Skopje, told The Associated Press 1,400 weapons have been collected - more than a third of the 3,300 weapons that NATO must gather.

He gave no specifics on the type of weapons, but said that the month-long mission, which began Monday, is ahead of schedule.

Under the peace agreement, once a third of the weapons are handed over, the Macedonian government has pledged to begin parliamentary debate on greater rights for the ethnic Albanians such as more use of the Albanian language and more posts in the police force. Ethnic Albanians make up a third of the Balkan nation's population of 2 million.

Maj. Gen. Gunnar Lange, the military commander of NATO's mission, said he had handed President Boris Trajkovski a letter informing him of the completion of the first phase of the weapons collection program.

Lange said he hoped rebel compliance in turning in their weapons "will contribute to the parliament process."

Trajkovski's office said that starting today, parliament would honor its commitment to start debating the constitutional reforms. Passage of the reforms will only occur when all the arms have been collected.

In another positive development, the presidential statement said that Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski agreed to the start of debate. Boskovski is a hard-liner opposed to concessions to the ethnic Albanians and is viewed by Western officials as a threat to peace efforts.

Although the alliance indicated it is ahead of schedule, NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson said in comments appearing yesterday in the Financial Times that the mission might be extended a couple of days.

"If the mission of collecting and destroying weapons takes a few more days, so be it," he wrote. But he added, "NATO cannot provide a long-term military solution to the challenges facing Macedonia. Those challenges are political and must be met politically."

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw did not rule out the possibility of a stabilization force to ensure security after the NATO collection mission is over. But Straw, in Skopje, said any likely foreign involvement past the weapons collection mission would be "in the form of civilian monitors."

Macedonian officials have criticized the NATO mission, saying the total number of arms the alliance is to collect is far below the true size of the rebel arsenal. The alliance has said it expects 3,300 weapons, while the government insists the rebels have closer to 60,000.

In Vienna, Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva, told reporters that the more weapons NATO collects the greater the chances of parliament enacting constitutional reforms.

Ethnic Albanian rebels staged an insurgency for six months this year in a struggle to win more rights for their people.

Despite the reported progress, tensions persisted.

An explosion rocked an ethnic Albanian commercial district of Skopje early yesterday, the fourth to hit the capital in as many days. No injuries were reported.

Residents saw anti-terror squads investigating the site of the pre-dawn explosion that destroyed an Albanian-owned restaurant.

In other incidents, Macedonians blockaded the Blace crossing on the border with the NATO-run Serbian Kosovo province, delaying the arrival of German soldiers who are part of NATO's mission here. Macedonian villagers from Matejce, 14 miles north of Skopje, also blocked a nearby border crossing to protest NATO's mission.