Word: albania
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...also based, in other words, on accepting at face value the National Liberation Army's claim to have taken up weapons simply to pursue expanded cultural and civil rights within Macedonia's democracy, rather than to create a separate Albanian entity within the country as part of a "Greater Albania" project incorporating Kosovo...
...their weapons. Regardless of the political pronouncement of their NATO-sensitive non-combatant leaders, many rank-and-file fighters in the National Liberation Army make no bones about the fact that their objective has been to create an Albanian enclave joined to Kosovo as part of a "Greater Albania." NLA commanders may persuade their men of the wisdom of standing down right now, but the idea of handing over their entire arsenal is unlikely to have much appeal to the fighters - particularly since NATO will presumably act more forcefully to cut rebel supply lines from Kosovo. Instead, NATO will find...
...Macedonia's parliament will be given 45 days to adopt the political agreement expected next Monday. And during that time, NATO plans to coax the guerrillas into standing down and disarming. Of course, there are grounds to believe the guerrillas may be willing to do this: For a "Greater Albania" insurgency exported from neighboring Kosovo, they will have done extraordinarily well if they keep the deal. Most important, it will have made them an indispensable factor in the stability of Macedonian political life - this despite their habit of driving non-Albanians out of the villages they've captured. Guerrilla commanders...
...Many observers of the conflict have expressed doubt that the rebels were simply fighting for constitutional reforms in Macedonia, suggesting instead that they were trying to take control of a piece of the country in order to join it to a "Greater Albania." Presumably, then, this agreement will be a real test of the guerrillas' intentions...
...guerrillas' intentions remain the $64,000 question, and nobody confidently knows the answer. Many of the rank and file members of the guerrilla army say they're fighting for a "Greater Albania." The question is whether their commanders believe it's worth pressing forward with that objective at this point. Some may argue that they've done extremely well in their campaign thus far, and that it might be a wiser course of action, right now, to accept the peace plan and consolidate what they've gained. They may see "Greater Albania" as a long-term project...