The leader of ethnic Albanian rebels has told NATO they will finish disarming without waiting for Macedonia's parliament to start enacting civil rights reforms required by a peace pact, NATO sources said today.
Guerrilla chief Mr Ali Ahmeti's gesture appears to remove the risk of NATO failing to wind up collections of arms from rebels before its mandate expires September 26th and increases pressure on parliament to approve reforms without further delay.
The delicately balanced military-political treaty agreed a month ago with Western mediation is aimed at defusing the fifth ethnic conflict in the region of former Yugoslavia since 1991 and stabilising the entire Balkans over the longer term.
NATO troops have collected two thirds of the National Liberation Army's declared arsenal but last week put the final phase of disarmament on hold by agreement with the NLA because parliament was hesitating to pass constitutional amendments.