TETOVO, Macedonia (Islamweb & Agencies) - Macedonian's Slave dominated government forces and ethnic Albanian fighters fought on Sunday in a serious breach of a 17-day cease-fire rendered fragile by the failure of local leaders to agree a permanent peace deal.
Heavy machine-gun, mortar and small-arms fire echoed for almost two hours across the hill-sides above Tetovo, the main Albanian town in the former Yugoslav republic, 20 miles west of the capital Skopje.
Western sources said the Macedonian Slav dominated army had responded ''disproportionally'' to a couple of rounds of incoming fire from positions held by Albanian National Liberation Army fighters.
Two government soldiers were reported injured in the subsequent firefight. Calm was restored after international officials asked both sides to stop fighting.
The cease-fire has allowed Western negotiators to pursue a deal on greater rights for the one-third Albanian minority that would end a five-month Albanian revolt for equal rights by improving their status.
But talks stalled last week amid angry Macedonian criticism that the concessions demanded of them would amount to the destruction of their state. Without movement toward a deal the chances of a return to fighting increase.
``The cease-fire will remain fragile in the absence of progress on the political front,'' a Western diplomat said.
Diplomats hope Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski will call leaders from the two communities together on Monday for a fresh attempt to bridge differences on the status of the Albanian language, which is seen as a key obstacle to peace.
United States envoy James Pardew and European Union negotiator Francois Leotard have proposed greater rights for Albanians to use their native tongue, such as in bilingual official documents and in debates in parliament.
But Macedonians see the paramouncy of their language as central to the identity of their state, born just a decade ago. Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski denounced the language plan as tantamount to dividing the state into ethnic enclaves.
Leaders of the world's major powers, meeting in the Italian city of Genoa, on Saturday called for restraint from Macedonia's leaders and backed reforms improving minority rights.
The Group of Eight industrialized states called for changes ''that ensure the participation of all citizens in the political life of the country and the highest respect for the identity and rights of all communities.''
PHOTO CAPTION:
U.S. envoy James Pardew, right, and EU envoy Francois Leotard listen during talks aimed at ending the five-month long Albanian insurgency in Macedonia, Thursday July 18 2001 in Skopje, Macedonia. Macedonian politicians rejected the peace plan proposed by Pardew and Leotard. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)