Buckling to Western pressure, the speaker of Macedonia’s parliament agreed to restart the debate today on reforms to boost the status of the ethnic Albanian minority, following the weekend impasse.

A new demand by the Macedonian Government for ethnic Albanian rebels to disarm completely prior to final approval of a deal has temporarily stalled peace negotiations.

Macedonian officials today demanded that ethnic Albanian rebels disarm before a deal is approved by parliament, delaying a peace settlement that had seemed near conclusion after the sides agreed to overhaul the police.

Gunmen ambushed Macedonia’s interior minister yesterday, spraying his car with bullets as he travelled to visit refugees returning to their homes.

NATO secretary general Lord Robertson and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solano have cancelled a trip to Macedonia amid fears that peace talks aimed at preventing a civil war could collapse.

President George W Bush today moved to choke off the funds and mobility of ethnic Albanian insurgents in Macedonia - part of what the White House called an effort to ‘‘face down extremists’’.

With a barrage of heavy artillery fire, Macedonian Government forces pounded rebel positions near the capital today, despite a tentative ceasefire offer from ethnic Albanian insurgents.

Outraged by the killing of five soldiers, Macedonia’s Prime Minister is to ask Parliament to declare a state of war against ethnic Albanian rebels, despite international appeals to resolve the conflict peacefully.

Macedonia has formed a broad Government coalition that includes representatives of the major ethnic Albanian parties, in the hope it will help the country avoid all-out war.

The Macedonian army sent four tanks rolling into the country’s second-largest city today, signalling the military is ready to engage ethnic Albanian rebels fighting for increased rights.

The army mounted a heavy artillery attack to push ethnic Albanian rebels northward, but the scene in Shipkovica, a hill town above Macedonia’s second-largest city, reflected a rebel force ready to stay put and step up their fight.