Skopje - Macedonia hardened its line in handling ethnic Albanian rebels yesterday, ruling out a long-term ceasefire and giving a key Albanian party a last chance to join a national unity government.
As the West stepped up pressure on the Albanian Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP) to join the new coalition designed to isolate the guerrillas, Macedonian troops continued sporadic shelling of rebel-held mountain villages. The formation of a national unity government would break a political and military deadlock, but the PDP first wants a total halt to shelling and international guarantees that a ceasefire will hold.
Meanwhile, a senior US official has said people who are actively backing or involved with ethnic Albanian rebels would be banned from travelling to the US. Balkans envoy Mr James Pardew added that the US would ask its European friends to impose a similar travel ban.