Macedonian ceasefire reinstated
NATO has brokered a fresh deal with ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia in an effort to reinstate a ceasefire and continue negotiations aimed at avoiding civil war.
The National Liberation Army has agreed to pull back from four villages around the northern city of Tetovo which it invaded in recent days.
This agreement followed a Government ultimatum to withdraw from the area or face the full might of the Macedonian Army.
The ethnic Albanian rebels overran the northern villages earlier this week and clashed with soldiers on the outskirts on Tetovo in fierce fighting that brought an end to a two-week ceasefire.
The rebel offensive was seen as retaliation for Macedonia's ruling party's decision to reject a peace deal backed by both NATO and the European Union.
That deal was designed to give the ethnic Albanian minority equality with Macedonia's majority Slavs.
