"Albanian army" issues ultimatum to Macedonia

A previously unknown organization calling itself the Army for the Liberation of Occupied Albanian Lands on Tuesday threatened to launch attacks in Macedonia. The group said it would attack what they referred to as "Slavo-Macedonian" army and police unless they retreat from "occupied Albanian lands" within the next two weeks. "Albanian army" issues ultimatum to Macedonia A statement to this effect was posted on the Albanian-language website Potalb. It further said that this "army" also has its "general staff", which met in Kosovska Mitrovica and decided to issue its ultimatum to the state of Macedonia. The text was published at a time of rising tensions in Macedonia after the murder of five ethnic Macedonian men near Skopje. The investigation into the assassination is still underway and Skopje-based media do not exclude the possibility that the crime was ethnically motivated. The group's statement also claims that rights of ethnic Albanians are "violated on a daily basis in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". The country's prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, is described as being "pro-Serb", and accused of "spreading anti-Albanian ideology and instigating assaults on innocent Albanians", while "Albanian villages are blocked by Macedonian Slavs and nobody among corrupt politicians in Ethnic (Greater) Albania is reacting because they are all traitors to their homeland". The group further threatened "to avenge our brothers", and said this would take the form of "fire against fire, an eye for an eye, an arm for an arm". Tanjug

"Albanian army" issues ultimatum to Macedonia

A statement to this effect was posted on the Albanian-language website Potalb.

It further said that this "army" also has its "general staff", which met in Kosovska Mitrovica and decided to issue its ultimatum to the state of Macedonia.

The text was published at a time of rising tensions in Macedonia after the murder of five ethnic Macedonian men near Skopje. The investigation into the assassination is still underway and Skopje-based media do not exclude the possibility that the crime was ethnically motivated.

The group's statement also claims that rights of ethnic Albanians are "violated on a daily basis in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".

The country's prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, is described as being "pro-Serb", and accused of "spreading anti-Albanian ideology and instigating assaults on innocent Albanians", while "Albanian villages are blocked by Macedonian Slavs and nobody among corrupt politicians in Ethnic (Greater) Albania is reacting because they are all traitors to their homeland".

The group further threatened "to avenge our brothers", and said this would take the form of "fire against fire, an eye for an eye, an arm for an arm".