Fresh tensions in Macedonia

Civilians have been fleeing fighting on the edge of Macedonia's second largest city Tetovo - the latest flashpoint in the conflict with ethnic Albanian guerrillas. The Macedonian authorities said one person was killed and 13 were wounded in eight hours of clashes on Wednesday, which extended rebel activity more than 70 kilometres (40 miles) deeper into the west of the country. According to BBC, heavy machine-gun fire has erupted again near the city after a lull overnight. The shooting has prompted many families to flee the outskirts of Tetovo and head for the capital Skopje or elsewhere, the Macedonian news agency MIA reports. The Macedonia rebels are believed to have a base inside the country, and the authorities fear that if the fighting spreads there may be a surge of support for the rebels among ethnic Albanians, who form at least 20% of the population. Thousands of ethnic Albanians demonstrated in Tetovo's main square in support of the guerrillas on Wednesday. Correspondents say the demonstration was the first major show of public support for the guerrillas. The demonstrators cheered and chanted the initials of the guerrilla group - the National Liberation Army - every time bursts of gunfire were heard. The militants say they are fighting for equal rights for the Albanian population, but are widely believed to be seeking to annex Albanian-populated areas to Kosovo, in a bid to create a "greater Albania". Clashes were also said to be continuing around the villages of Brest and Malino Malo, not far from the border village of Tanusevci where the violence began three weeks ago. In a move to cut off the rebels' lines of supply from Serbia, Yugoslav forces were deployed on Wednesday near the Macedonian border for the first time since the 1999 Kosovo conflict.