Tension in Macedonia was ratcheted up another notch yesterday when police arrested the dean of the main ethnic Albanian university, Mr Fadil Suleymani, accusing him of links to terrorists.
Mr Suleymani has had a leading role in establishing the university, which has become a source of tension because the Macedonian government re fuses to recognise it.
The arrest further complicates the peace missions of two envoys, Mr James Pardew from the US and Mr Francois Leotard from the EU, who spent the day trying to persuade both sides to hold talks.
"We have protested to the government that he be freed, but we've had no answer," said Mr Abduladi Veseli, a parliamentarian with the Albanian Party of Democratic Prosperity.
The university, in Tetovo, teaches in the Albanian language.
In 1994 clashes between students and police left one Albanian dead.
The arrest took place against a background of worsening violence. Macedonian helicopter gunships and artillery attacked rebels in four villages they seized over the weekend north of the town of Tetovo.
More fighting broke out farther east around the village of Radusa, and there were clashes close to the main border crossing with Kosovo at Blace.
The ethnic Albanian rebel army, the UCK, its ranks swelled by new recruits in recent days, said it would start fresh offensives throughout the week.
One ray of hope for the negotiators is that the UCK is reportedly sticking to a deal made last month which allows two mainstream ethnic Albanian parties to negotiate on its behalf.
The Albanian Party of Democratic Prosperity and the Albanian Democratic Party agreed the common front with the guerrillas at a meeting in the Kosovo town of Prizren last month.
This removes one important obstacle for the mediators, the refusal of the Macedonian government to talk to the guerrillas.
Since then fighting has escalated between security forces and the UCK.
A source in Kosovo told The Irish Times that the guerrillas were nevertheless sticking by their pledge.
"Of course, the UCK is keeping the power to veto any plan if they don't like it, but they are sticking to the deal," said the source.
Mr Pardew and Mr Leotard are expected to announce a new round of talks or a possible round table for all sides later this week.
But the Albanians' key demand, for a new constitution giving them equal status with the country's Slavic majority, has so far been rejected by the government.