Skopje - Macedonia's ethnically mixed coalition government agreed yesterday to set aside a dispute over a peace pact signed by ethnic Albanian leaders and guerrillas and work together to end a five-month-old rebellion.
In a statement issued after talks brokered by the European Union foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, the unity government said the crisis could only be resolved "by democratically elected representatives, working through a peaceful political process".
Western governments and Macedonia's Slav political parties strongly condemned the peace pact signed last week by ethnic Albanian political leaders which would have brought ethnic Albanian guerrillas into the political process.