Macedonian tanks tried to drive ethnic Albanian guerrillas out of a northern village yesterday, as the EU's top diplomat arrived in Skopje hoping to save the national unity government.
Two tanks shelled suspected rebel positions above Matejce, one of a string of a dozen villages controlled by the guerrillas in hilly terrain about 40 km north-east of the capital.
Tank shells hit at least four houses as well as the village mosque. Tanks and long-range artillery continued the bombardment of two other villages.
EU foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, began top-level political talks as part of an international effort to ease the conflict which could ignite another full-scale Balkan war.
Mr Solana has been spearheading Western efforts to defuse the crisis with a twin-track approach of backing Macedonian military action against the guerrillas, while urging the Slav majority ethnic group to improve opportunities for ethnic Albanians.
But the national unity government formed just over two weeks ago was plunged into crisis last week after it emerged the two main ethnic Albanian parties in the coalition had met the rebels' political leader, Mr Ali Ahmeti.
The West has joined Slav parties in expressing horror at the move and called on the ethnic Albanian party leaders to distance themselves from the peace plan they agreed with Mr Ahmeti - something they have not yet done.
The guerrillas began their uprising at the start of this year, saying they were fighting state-backed discrimination and violence against ethnic Albanians, who make up around one-third of the state's population of two million.