Peace talks resume in Macedonia

Macedonian Government officials and ethnic Albanian leaders have gathered in the southern city of Ohrid to resume high-level peace talks aimed at ending a rebel insurgency in the north of the country.

The ethnic Albanian uprising began in February when the National Liberation Army seized several villages and demanded equality for their people.

Peace talks were called to stave off the threat of civil war, but they collapsed last week when President Boris Trajkovski's ruling party rejected a peace pact that would have given ethnic Albanians a greater say in running Macedonia.

Mr Trajkovski's rejection of that deal led to a fresh rebel offensive, with the NLA attacking soldiers on the outskirts of Tetovo and seizing four nearby villages.

However, a new ceasefire was agreed earlier this week following the intervention of NATO general secretary Lord Robertson and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

The peace negotiations are due to resume at noon today at a presidential retreat near Lake Ohrid, a venue chosen in an attempt to avoid potentially hostile crowds and protestors in the capital, Skopje.