Macedonia unity deal deadlocked

Thousands of refugees are fleeing the conflict zone

Talks aimed at creating a government of national unity in Macedonia have continued as security forces shelled villages held by ethnic Albanian rebels in the north-east of the country.

About 7,000 villagers have fled the area in the past few days and correspondents say hundreds of families are spending a sixth night in cellars.

One of the key Albanian parties in Macedonia, the Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP), has said it will not commit to a new coalition until the army calls off its offensive.

Georgievski: Declaration of war is off the agenda

Their announcement came only hours after Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski had said the country's main parties had decided to form a national unity government.

The PDP is supposed to be one of the four parties at the core of the coalition, together with another key Albanian movement and the two main Macedonian parties.

PDP leader Naser Ziberi said his party needed more time for internal consultations before joining the government.

But the BBC correspondent in Skopje, Nick Thorpe, says that commentators there believe a deal will be reached.

Civilians flee

As the political manoeuvres went on in Skopje, the Macedonian army launched a fresh offensive against Albanian guerrillas and thousands of civilians fled into Kosovo.

About 2,600 people, mostly ethnic Albanian women, children and old men, joined the 4,000 refugees who crossed into Kosovo on Monday, the United Nations refugee agency said.

The focus of the unrest was again two northern villages, Slupcane and Vakcince - rebel strongholds which have been under army bombardment since last week.

The political leaders thrashed out the shape of the national unity deal in the early hours of Tuesday, in talks attended by European Union security chief Javier Solana.

Macedonia's existing coalition government already included the moderate ethnic Albanian DPA party.

Rebels undefeated

The opposition Social Democrats have joined the administration, while the PDP say they might continue discussions on Wednesday.

Lord Robertson and Mr Solana were involved in the coalition talks

The rebels in the north of the country have been hurt but not defeated by the army assault of the past days.

The wider community - Macedonians and Albanians - must be persuaded that a new government will be effective.

Nato Secretary-General Lord Robertson had suggested on Monday that the formation of a coalition might help defeat the rebels.

The Macedonian Government had been considering declaring a state of war, which would give it broad powers and loosen restraints on the army.

But Prime Minister Georgievski, announcing the national unity government breakthrough, said the plans were off the agenda for now.