Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski pardoned 11 jailed ethnic Albanian guerrillas today, launching an amnesty seen as crucial to sustaining an August peace settlement.
The amnesty, aimed at defusing ethnic mistrust and enabling the return of police to rebel-dominated territory in coming weeks, was decreed under Western diplomatic pressure last month after weeks of nationalist obstruction.
It is to cover all rebels who are not indictable by the UN war crimes tribunal and voluntarily disarmed under NATO supervision by September 26th, unless captured before then.
President Trajkovski decided today to pardon 11 members of the so-called (disbanded) National Liberation Army who were arrested before September 26th, said a statement by his office carried by the state news agency MIA.
The pardoning commission will continue to process others on the list of 88 pardoning proposals. The President will bring further pardoning decisions in the next few days.
Officials said detainees would be freed after their names and cases were published in Macedonia's official gazette, expected shortly.