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Macedonia: NATO Confirms Weapons Handover


Skopje, 25 September 2001 (RFE/RL) -- NATO today confirmed that ethnic Albanian militants in Macedonia have met their obligation under a Western-brokered peace deal to surrender a declared arsenal of 3,300 weapons to alliance troops. NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson has been meeting in Skopje today with Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski and other government officials to finalize the details of a follow-up NATO mission in the country.

NATO's North Atlantic Council is expected to approve Trajkovski's request for the mission, to be code-named Operation Amber Fox, during a meeting in Brussels tomorrow. Trajkovski has asked for NATO to protect some 250 Western monitors.

NATO spokesman Mark Laity told RFE/RL that Lord Robertson also is discussing the need for lawmakers to approve promised constitutional amendments that grant ethnic Albanians greater civil rights. He also is urging action on a promised amnesty for ethnic Albanian militants.

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