(6 Jun 2001)
Matejce Village, 6 June 2001
1. Burning villages
2. Valley with smoke billowing
3. Smoke covered houses
4. Macedonian tank
Slupcane village, 6 June 2001
5. Slupcane village
Skopje, 6 June 2001
6. SOUNDBITE (Macedonian) Antonio Milososki, Macedonian Government spokesman
"The republic of Macedonia needs to declare the state of war and to undertake general mobilisation, because the situation is demanding it. We have no other choice but to resolve this crisis by aggressive actions and effective response of our armed forces. We tried to resolve it by diplomatic means but to no avail."
Kumanovo, 6 June 2001
7. Various people filling water into jerry cans
8. Jerry cans and plastic bottles
9. People queuing up to fill water into jerry cans
10. Bottle being filled with water
11. Man filling water into jerry cans
STORYLINE:
Macedonia's prime minister is to demand that parliament declare a state of war, his spokesman announced on Wednesday, saying political dialogue was not enough to solve the country's troubles in the face of an ethnic Albanian insurgency.
The comments by Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski's spokesman came hours after five soldiers died and seven were wounded in rebel attacks, the most serious escalation of violence in weeks.
Antonio Milososki urged parliament to "officially introduce a state of war and mobilisation in the country because it is not possible to respond otherwise to the threats against Macedonia's security and sovereignty."
Troops and ethnic Albanian rebels have been fighting since February, but formally declaring a state of war would mark a serious deepening of the crisis.
Besides mobilisation, a state of war would give President Boris Trajkovski the ability to rule by decree and appoint a government of his choosing.
Borders could be sealed, a nationwide curfew imposed and demonstrations banned.
Such extreme measures could also radicalise the country's sizable ethnic Albanian minority, which makes up as much as one-third of the population.
European officials fear such a move could further destabilise this former Yugoslav republic by pushing its ethnic Albanians to support the rebel cause.
Such a measure would also be difficult to pass.
It would need two-thirds majority approval or 81 of parliament's 120 deputies.
Twenty-four deputies in Macedonia's parliament are ethnic Albanian.
Macedonia's leaders had suggested such a declaration last month.
But international officials quickly raced to the capital, Skopje, to persuade leaders to expand their negotiations on solving the country's problems rather than escalate their attacks on the militants.
Since then, Macedonia's leaders have established a broad-based coalition government intended to bring Macedonian Slav and ethnic Albanian leaders together to resolve the country's many troubles.
Still, Georgievski's intention indicates a further deterioration in the coalition's unity.
"The prime minister does not wish more fighting ... but we must finish with illusions that four months of conflicts can be solved only through dialogue," his spokesman said.
The increasing tensions came after ethnic Albanian rebels attacked a vehicle bringing food to government forces near the village of Gajre late on Tuesday.
The attack in the village just outside the second-largest city, Tetovo, killed one soldier and wounded three others.
An ambulance carrying a military escort was dispatched to rescue them, but the vehicle also came under fire and the rebels killed four more soldiers.
Fighting later ensued, wounding four more policemen.
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