Troops pour into Macedonia

British paratroops began arriving on Thursday

Nato troops have begun streaming into Macedonia on a mission to collect weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels and bring an end to six months of conflict.

Macedonia now has a real opportunity... to avoid a catastrophic civil war

US State Department

The first contingent of British paratroops landed in Skopje on Thursday morning. French soldiers had arrived within hours of Wednesday's decision to proceed with the operation.

It will take 10-14 days for the full force to be deployed - after that they have just 30 days to complete their task. An advance party has been on the ground since the weekend.

Estimates of the number of weapons to be collected differ wildly

• Macedonia's Government says the rebels possess 85,000 firearms

• The rebels say they will hand over only 2,000

The Nato commander on the ground will make an official estimate of the number of weapons and present it to the government in Skopje, which may or may not make the figure public.

Nato force

UK leading - 1,900

France - 530

Italy - around 500

Germany - 500

Greece - 350

Netherlands - 250

Canada - 200

Spain, Turkey, Hungary, Norway, Czech Republic, Belgium - under 200 each

US - providing transport

Commander: UK's Brigadier Barney White-Spunner

Meanwhile, a brittle ceasefire between rebels and government forces is generally holding, although doubts persist over what impact Operation Essential Harvest can have, given the limited nature of Nato's disarmament role.

The official strength of the force is put at 3,500 - but the total number of troops offered by individual Nato member governments exceeds that figure.

Nato soldiers will simply receive weapons that are handed over voluntarily - they have no mandate to seize any guns.

They will be divided between four areas - one British, one French, one Italian and one Greek, with contingents from other countries being assigned to one of the four.

None of the battle group locations are in rebel-held areas.

Weapons collection could begin as early as Monday, our correspondent says.

The BBC's Paul Adams, reporting from Skopje, says much of the operation is intended to be symbolic.

Nato believes, perhaps optimistically he says, that even a limited handover of weapons by the rebels is a statement of their intent to settle differences peacefully from now on.

Risks

Senior Nato political officials are, however, still warning that the alliance's third Balkans mission is fraught with risk.

Nato troops will only collect weapons that rebels give up voluntarily

"We expect many, many problems... You can expect to see in the future further acts of violence," said one, Daniel Speckhard.

But the United States, which is providing several hundred troops for logistical support, says it expects the guerrillas to disarm, as they have promised.

"Macedonia now has a real opportunity... through the Nato weapons collection mission, to avoid a catastrophic civil war," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told reporters.

The Macedonian Government has welcomed Nato's arrival and pledged to co-operate with the incoming troops.

And a BBC correspondent in Macedonia says many villagers who have been cut off by the fighting are pleased that the international presence has opened routes for food and other vital supplies to get through.

Doubts

But Russia has expressed doubts about the entire Nato operation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Kiev on Thursday that it was "difficult to count on the (Albanian) fighters voluntarily giving up their weapons".

The conflict has exposed long-standing grievances

They have been fighting for improved rights for Macedonia's Albanian minority.

A Western-brokered peace accord - which laid the groundwork for the handover of weapons - offers just that.

It gives the Albanian language official status in areas where ethnic Albanians make up 20% or more of the population.

It also aims to make the police force more representative, and changes the country's constitution to remove references to ethnic background.