UN chief alarmed by violence in former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon was alarmed by the recent violence in the city of Kumanovo in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and extended his condolences to the families of those killed and injured, according to a UN spokesperson's statement Monday.

"He (secretary general) strongly supported the calls by the European Union and other members of the international community urging the state authorities and all political and community leaders to cooperate to restore calm and to fully investigate the events in an objective and transparent manner," said the statement.

At this sensitive time, Ban called on all actors to exercise maximum restraint and to refrain from any rhetoric and/or actions that may escalate tensions further, it said.

He also encouraged the country's authorities to address the concerns voiced by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on March 17 and to reaffirm their commitment to fundamental human rights and the rule of law by fostering an environment in which opposing views can be expressed freely.

Saturday saw a day-long gun battle in the ethnically-mixed city of Kumanovo between FYROM police and what the government claims was a terrorist group in the country, which led to the death of eight policemen and 30 arrests. The number of causalities suffered by the so-called terrorist group was unknown.

The ethnic tension between ethnic Albanians and the central government could be traced to 2001, when an ethnic Albanian insurgency broke out and demanded great rights for ethnic Albanians. Later a peace deal was reached.

The government claimed the alleged terrorists were former rebel commanders from neighboring Kosovo which broke from Serbia in a war in 1999 and inspired the ethnic Albanian insurgency in FYROM in 2001. Endite