Macedonia gains a bit of ethnic tranquility

MALA RECICA, Macedonia -- What a difference a year makes.

A year ago Ali Ahmeti was a hunted man, the shadowy leader of a few thousand ethnic Albanian guerrillas fighting in the mountainous areas of northern and western Macedonia. Calling themselves the National Liberation Army, he and his fighters seized territory and threatened to plunge this small, ethnically mixed country into yet another Balkan war.

Today the 42-year-old former commander, in a tie and pressed shirt, greets visitors at the headquarters of his new party, the Democratic Union for Integration. Amnestied by the Macedonian government in March, he is trying to build a political organization from scratch in time for September elections. Even more remarkably, he has emerged as a leading voice of moderation, disavowing nationalism and calling for reconciliation with the country's Slavic majority.

Ahmeti's rehabilitation is not quite complete. The U.S. government still shuns him for his role in last year's uprising, and questions remain about his motives and his abilities as a peacetime leader. But Western diplomats in the capital, Skopje, have welcomed his entry onto the political stage as a promising development in Macedonia's agonizing search for accommodation between its Slav majority and ethnic Albanian minority.

Last July, Western intervention in the conflict brought Macedonian leaders to the negotiating table. They agreed on changes to the constitution to expand rights for ethnic Albanians, who make up between a quarter and a third of the population. In return, Ahmeti's little army laid down its guns.

Much of last year's agreement has been fulfilled. Albanians were granted wider use of their language, and power is being devolved to local governments, giving Albanian communities a greater say in their own affairs.

Still, the peace is shaky. Although the rebels turned in more than 3,500 guns, the country is awash with weapons. Many ethnic Albanian areas remain outside government control, and a small number of ethnic Albanian rebels who rejected last year's peace agreement still cause trouble. In the meantime, an economy weakened by years of war in the region spreads suffering and discontent among Macedonians of all ethnicities.

In western Macedonia, the scene of much of last year's fighting, life is returning to a semblance of normality. Most who fled the fighting have returned. Villagers in ethnically mixed areas say relations between ethnic groups are strained but peaceful. Recently, with the help of international monitors, the government introduced ethnically mixed police patrols in areas the rebels once held.

But lawlessness persists. The disbanding of the rebel army left a vacuum that organized crime has been quick to fill.

"There's no security," complained Naidi Asani, 22, as he loaded blocks on a wagon in the ethnic Albanian village of Dobroste. Last month a gunfight just outside his village left three men dead. Residents in the region say police shrink from going out after dark, forcing many villages to organize their own nighttime patrols.

Parliamentary elections, set for Sept. 15, promise to be the most critical for the future of Macedonia since it became independent in 1991. Macedonia's governing coalition, made up of Slavic and ethnic Albanian parties, is struggling to hang onto power. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe plans to call in 750 election monitors.

For his part, Ahmeti has dropped nationalist rhetoric.

"We want to introduce a new concept, without any nationalistic phrases," he said in an interview. "Instead we will offer solutions and perspective for the future of all citizens, including both Albanians and Macedonians. Not hatred but mutual trust. We want to offer realistic options for European integration, not only in words, but in deeds."

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