Rebels to surrender arms without pact

Skopje - The ethnic Albanian rebels' leader has told NATO they will finish disarming without waiting for Macedonia's parliament…

Skopje - The ethnic Albanian rebels' leader 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 yesterday.

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 immediately.