NATO has settled on a credible estimate of somewhere over 3,000 weapons to be collected by its troops from ethnic Albanian guerrillas under a peace plan in Macedonia, Western diplomats said today.
Major-General Gunnar Lange, commander of the 3,800-strong NATO mission to whom rebels are to voluntarily disarm in exchange for better Albanian minority rights, refused to confirm the politically sensitive figure but said it would be announced after NATO briefed the government later in the day.
"The first figures we got from the (guerrillas) were not really credible. So we required further discussions. I believe the number we have now is credible and close to our own intelligence assessments," Maj-Gen Lange said.
A Western diplomat close to the NATO mission said the initial figures of 2,000-2,500 weapons supplied by the guerrillas was too low but Macedonian estimates of anywhere from 8,000 to 80,000 were too high.
He said NATO now had an estimate of somewhere over 3,000 weapons believed to be credible, accurate and nonnegotiable . The government fears rebels will hide firepower from NATO to use after its limited 30-day mission ends.