Global Policy Forum

In an anti-Western outburst that hurt the chances of reviving peace talks in Macedonia, the government on Tuesday accused NATO and international peace mediators of backing ethnic Albanian rebels. A government spokesman said American and European Union envoys had wrongly blamed Macedonia for wrecking a cease-fire and sparking vicious fighting between security forces and rebels in Tetovo that left two dead on Monday. "That is a big lie, the biggest we have heard. It removes all doubt that they are not objective," said the spokesman, Antonio Milosovski.

Western diplomats denied that the U.S. envoy, James Pardew, and Francois Leotard of the European Union had accused Macedonia of firing first. The two envoys were said to be "shocked" at the accusation. "I think we're in a period of hypernationalism," a Western diplomat said. "They're lashing out at the entire international community. That's very damaging to negotiations and very dangerous for the people of this country."

The verbal attack took relations between the West and Skopje to a new low. They were badly damaged when the government assailed the envoys last week for making peace proposals it said were tantamount to the destruction of the young country.

Diplomats have been struggling to keep talks alive while voicing suspicion that hard-line elements in the government would rather return to fighting than make the unpalatable compromises needed to secure peace with the one-third Albanian minority.

Macedonia's prime minister, Ljubco Georgievski, asked his cabinet to propose a Tuesday deadline to rebels to pull back from territory it says they took under cover of a 19-day truce or face all-out assault. But the cabinet of the all-party coalition government refused to back the ultimatum. Mr. Georgievski later sent a letter to Macedonia's president, Boris Trajkovksi, urging him to order a military strike.

As darkness began to fall, fighting erupted again in Tetovo, 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Skopje, after a day of relative calm. The government condemned NATO, which is planning to send 3,000 troops to supervise the disarmament of National Liberation Army guerrillas once a peace deal is signed.

"NATO is not our enemy but it is a great friend of our enemies who are attacking the future of our country," Mr. Milosovski said. He also asserted that NATO countries were directing the National Liberation Army with the goal of making Macedonia an international protectorate.

In a further ratcheting up of tension, Macedonia ordered the closing of its border crossings into the Albanian-dominated Yugoslav province of Kosovo. It gave no explanation for the move.

In downtown Skopje, crowds of people who said the guerrillas had forced them from their village homes during fighting on Monday staged an angry protest outside the Parliament, tearing down barricades and threatening passing ethnic Albanians. About 200 young men later went on a rampage, attacking vehicles belonging to international organizations and shouting slogans like "NATO are Albanian-lovers."