NATO today approved setting up a command headquarters of 400 British troops in Macedonia to prepare a mission to collect weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels.
The 19 NATO ambassadors voted unanimously to send the advance troops after consulting with their governments, a NATO spokesman said.
The first units could arrive in Skopje as early as Friday.
In Skopje, NATO spokesman Major Barry Johnson noted the mission itself to collect weapons had not received approval yet.
"This is not an order to activate (the entire mission). This is an agreement that command and control elements can deploy," he said.
A NATO force of up to 3,500 could be deployed to disarm ethnic Albanian guerrillas, according to British reports today.
Skopje also announced it had reached a deal with NATO on the status of the force and offered the rebels an amnesty.
"The ceasefire must be respected. Our soldiers will not come here to enforce a peace," said Danish General Gunnar Lange, who will command the 3,500 strong NATO force which is expected to begin arriving by the weekend.
AFP AFP