Macedonia declared a unilateral ceasefire in its conflict with ethnic Albanian rebels this evening one day ahead of the planned signing of a Western-backed peace accord.
"In order to give peace a chance, the government has declared a unilateral ceasefire," a senior official said, one day before Macedonian and ethnic Albanian parties were due to sign the political agreement.
Officials said that government forces reserved the right to strike back if they came under attack from the rebels, but that the situation was relatively calm after several days of fierce fighting.
Western officials connected to peace negotiations said that NATO was trying to extract a promise from rebel leaders that they would respect the ceasefire.
One hour after the ceasefire came into effect at 6.30 p.m. Irish time there had been no fresh fighting, an official at the Macedonian government's crisis co-ordination centre told AFP.
Earlier today, security forces and rebels exchanged fire around a string of villages north and west of Skopje, after a week in which at least 18 troops and five rebels were killed in fighting.
The leaders of Macedonia's main parties - including two representing the ethnic Albanian minority - were expected to sign an accord brokered with the help of NATO and EU envoys tomorrow.
The rebels themselves were not represented at the peace talks where the accord was reached, and it is not clear whether they will agree to lay down their arms in exchange for the reforms of minority rights promised in the deal.
AFP