NATO sets target for weapons handover
NATO is to start collecting 3,300 weapons from ethnic Albanian militants in Macedonia.
Major General Gunnar Lange, the military commander of Operation Essential Harvest, told reporters the number of weapons the National Liberation Army offered to hand over was very close to NATO's own estimates.
He said the NLA would effectively be disarmed and disbanded as an organisation, but there must be a sincere attempt by the rebels and the Government to end the fighting.
"The turning in of weapons is not just a gesture, but a serious move to remove so-called NLA's combat-readiness," Gen Lange said. "The Government will do its part with a confidence-building process."
The peace deal that ended six months of fighting between rebels and Government forces envisions a step-by-step process in which rebels will hand over weapons to NATO in exchange for political reforms in Macedonia.
Since a third of the weapons are to be handed over in exchange for moves in parliament, the figure had to be revealed in advance.
The Macedonian Government had claimed the insurgents have 85,000 weapons, while the rebels put the number closer to 2,000.
Western observers described the higher Government figure as an attempt by hard-liners to obstruct the deal.
It remained unclear whether Macedonia's political leaders would order their forces to pull back from areas surrounding drop-off sites.
The failure to withdraw despite promises to pull back ahead of the start of NATO's mission could hamper the prospects of getting collections under way as planned.
