Macedonia tells rebels: You have 24 hours to surrender
Macedonia has given ethnic Albanian rebels 24 hours to end their armed insurrection or face all-out assault.
The army stopped shooting before midnight (11pm last night - Irish time).
It said it would refrain from "offensive" actions for 24 hours.
In an important boost to government efforts, two major ethnic Albanian political parties announced their backing for a peaceful end to the conflict.
But Arben Xhafari, whose Democratic Albanian Party is a member of the Slav-dominated government coalition, warned it might leave the government if violence escalates.
He criticised the government, saying his party was not fully involved in the decision-making process. His party was "totally dissatisfied with the amount of (government) force being used" against the rebels.
Government tanks moved into the city of Tetevo on Monday. Nato pledged to "starve" the rebels by cutting supply lines from neighbouring Kosovo.
Yesterday, the rebels called for negotiations on their demands for more rights for Slav-dominated Macedonia's ethnic Albanian minority.
The Macedonian government claims the separatists are seeking to unite with predominately Albanian Kosovo.
