Ethnic Albanian political leaders in Macedonia have walked out of talks to end six months of fighting, saying their "work was done" at the negotiating table.
The two leaders of the ethnic Albanian parties, who are members of the governing coalition, failed to turn up at a meeting yesterday organised by the President, Mr Boris Trajkovski.
Ethnic Albanian leaders and Macedonian Slav politicians had been holding talks on a political settlement to end the ethnic Albanian insurgency in Macedonia.
The defence ministry said in a statement Albanian rebels from the National Liberation Army (NLA) were regrouping across the north and west, firing on police near the north-western town of Tetovo and showing up near the south-western border with Albania.