Macedonia: Thousands protest attack against ethnic Albanian leader; EU, US concerned

TETOVO, Macedonia: About 10,000 people demonstrated Tuesday against what they said was an attempt to assassinate the leader of a major ethnic Albanian opposition party in the northwest Macedonian city of Tetovo.

Ali Ahmeti, a former rebel commander, was unhurt when gunmen sprayed his car with automatic gunfire late Monday in Tetovo as he was campaigning for June 1 general elections. The gunfire left a bystander injured.

The EU and the U.S. expressed concern over the violence.

At least eight regional offices of Ahmeti's Democratic Union for Integration party have been attacked since Sunday — seven with gunfire and one with a hand grenade. No injuries were reported from those incidents.

Ahmeti's party blamed a rival ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Party of Albanians, which in turn denied any involvement.

Late Tuesday, authorities said two suspects had been arrested in connection with the attack against Ahmeti, and charged with "endangering security," while a third remained at large.

Ethnic Albanians account for about a quarter of Macedonia's 2.1 million population.

In 2001, ethnic Albanian rebels staged an armed rebellion against the government. But fierce rivalry has since grown between the two main Albanian parties, and intensified in the run-up to the June 1 elections.

About 10,000 DUI supporters marched Tuesday through the center of Tetovo, an ethnic Albanian majority city. The protest ended peacefully.

DUI officials claimed Monday's attack had been orchestrated by Democratic Party of Albanians' leader Menduh Thaci and Macedonian special police to intimidate the electorate not to vote.

The DPA denied any involvement and condemned the attacks.

Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski, has warned the pre-election violence could ruin the country's hopes of joining NATO and the EU, and urged ethnic Albanian leaders to calm tensions.

A statement issued by the Slovenian Embassy in Skopje on behalf of the EU called for calm. Slovenia currently holds the EU rotating presidency.

"Violence has no place in an election campaign," it said. Krisztina Nagy, EU spokeswoman on enlargement, said Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn was worried by the "worsening of the security situation."

Also Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy expressed "deep concern" over the current election atmosphere in Macedonia.

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Associated Press writer Konstantin Testorides reported from Skopje, Macedonia.

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