(21 May 2001)

1. Various wide shots of village
2. APC driving through village
3. Various shots Macedonian policemen in flak jackets and full gear walking cautiously through the village
4. Various shots Macedonian police looking around the corner of the house
5. Various shots police in patrol post
6. Various shots masked Macedonian police with guns covering road
7. Mid shot two Albanian police standing guard
8. Various shots Macedonian police on patrol in the village
9. Various shots few Albanian villagers outside in near empty streets
10. Close-up Macedonian police officer sitting outside shop
11. Mid shot shop front with police officer outside shop as two girls walk off with wheelbarrow
12. Villager sharing cigarette with policemen

STORYLINE:

The streets of Matejce, an ethnic Albanian village near Slupcane, in the Kumanovo area, are almost deserted.

Macedonian forces are on the patrol in the village, but Albanian rebels hold positions in the surrounding hills.

Half the original population of Matejce of 6,000 have now fled.

Those remaining, a mix of ethnic Albanians, Macedonians and ethnic Serbs, often stay indoors rather than face rebel snipers in the surrounding hills.

Fighting in Macedonia first erupted in February.

The guerrillas launched a rebellion saying they want more rights for ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, who make up about one-third of the population.

The clashes in several northern villages, where the rebels have dug in, have left thousands of civilians caught up in the fighting, often lacking food and water.

The government claims that the villagers are being used as human shields by the rebels to protect them from a large-scale government offensive.

The Macedonian government initially threatened to "eliminate" the rebels unless they accepted a deadline set for last Thursday to give up their armed struggle.

But under intense pressure from the West, the government later promised restraint.

A government official alleged that the rebels have used a break in the fighting to regroup and take up new positions.

Western officials fear that full-scale warfare in Macedonia could engulf the Balkan region and encouraged key players to stand together.

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