Macedonia deal thrown into doubt

Skirmishes continued despite the deal

The Macedonian parliament has laid out stiff conditions for the ratification of a peace accord, signed between ethnic Albanian and Macedonian political leaders on Monday.

We are cautiously optimistic about the prospects for peace

Nato spokeswoman

The parliament wants to see disarmament of the ethnic Albanian guerrillas before it will debate the political agreement.

But Nato, which has pledged 3,500 troops, says the deal must be implemented before it will send in its forces to oversee disarmament.

The BBC's correspondent in Skopje, Chris Morris, says that the timetable set out by parliament may also prove unacceptable to the rebel movement.

Absolute condition

Parliament must approve the changes to the constitution included in Monday's peace deal before the agreement can come into force.

But it says it will not decide whether to debate the changes until Nato peacekeepers have collected one third of the ethnic Albanian guerrillas' weapons.

Peace accord's reported key points

Amends constitution to include all ethnic groups, not specifically Macedonians

Makes Albanian second official language in some areas

More ethnic Albanians in police and other institutions

Allows degree of self-rule in Albanian-dominated areas

Census to be held to establish country's exact ethnic mix ahead of elections

And it would not actually vote on the deal until three days after all the weapons had been handed in.

But Nato told BBC News Online that parliamentary ratification was an absolute condition for it to begin overseeing the disarmament process.

Macedonian public opinion towards the internationally negotiated agreement has been generally negative and is perceived by many as granting concessions to the Albanians under military pressure.

Overnight fresh fighting erupted in northern Macedonia following the signing of the peace deal as rebel gunmen and government forces clashed in the hills above the mainly ethnic Albanian city of Tetovo and near the northern border with Kosovo.

But Nato, which sent additional experts to monitor the situation in Macedonia on Tuesday, was optimistic the peace accord would hold despite the renewed clashes:

Last week saw the heaviest toll from fighting yet

"We have had a clear breakthrough in the last 72 hours. Last week, when we had the prime minister walking out of talks, and an attack on soldiers, you would not have thought we could get where we are today," a Nato spokeswoman told BBC News Online.

Observers say the most recent fighting has been less intense than last week, when about 30 people died in the fiercest battles seen since the beginning of the rebel insurgency in February.

About 100 people in total have died since the fighting began.

Nato's mission

The team of 15 Nato experts is to work on getting the warring Macedonian and ethnic Albanian rebels to withdraw to the lines of a ceasefire agreed in July.

Nato Secretary-General George Robertson said there were hopes of having a sustainable ceasefire in place "in the next few days".

A ceasefire and rebel agreement to hand over their weapons are prerequisites for the Nato mission, Operation Essential Harvest.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told the BBC that Nato could be ready to announce a decision to deploy as early as this Friday.

It would then take about two weeks for the troops to be moved in.

But, Lord Robertson said, there is still some way before Nato's four conditions for deployment are met:

• Political agreement:
  Satisfied but must be implemented swiftly.

• Durable ceasefire:
  Must see end to violence and provocation and a return to the territorial lines drawn up in Nato's 5 July ceasefire agreement

• Disarmament:
  Guerrillas and government must agree to detail of disarmament plan

• Status of forces:
  Agreement must be met before Operation Essential Harvest can begin

Nato ambassadors will meet on Wednesday to decide to what extent the conditions have been met.

Western envoys hope Monday's deal, which aims to address ethnic Albanians' long-standing complaints, will undercut support for their armed struggle.

But observers say many Macedonians will not accept a deal which they perceive as having been done under military pressure.