Rebel Arms Proviso Met, NATO Says

SKOPJE, Macedonia â€”  NATO has collected more than a third of the rebel weapons it intends to collect, the alliance said Thursday, opening the way for debate on constitutional reforms to give ethnic Albanians greater rights.

Maj. Barry Johnson, spokesman for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said 1,400 weapons had been gathered. Alliance troops intend to collect 3,300. Johnson said the monthlong mission, which began Monday, is ahead of schedule.

Under a peace accord signed this month, once a third of the weapons are handed over by the ethnic Albanian rebels, the Macedonian government is to begin parliamentary debate on greater rights for ethnic Albanians, such as more official use of the Albanian language and more posts in the police force. Ethnic Albanians make up at least a quarter of the nation’s population of 2 million.

President Boris Trajkovski’s office said that starting today, parliament would honor its commitment to begin debating the constitutional reforms. Passage of the reforms will occur only after all 3,300 weapons have been collected.

In another positive development, the president’s office said Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski agreed to the start of debate. Boskovski is a hard-liner opposed to concessions to the ethnic Albanians and is viewed by Western officials as a threat to the peace effort.