NLA weapons are destroyed at NATO base

Описание: (9 Sep 2001)

1. Wide of weapons arranged on the ground
2. Various of rifles and automatic weapons
3. Various of mortars
4. Various of soldiers guarding weapons
5. Wide of dozens of rifles on ground
6. Soldier guarding weapons
7. Close up mounted machine gun
8. Close up of mounted automatic weapons
9. Close up of grenade launcher
10. Wide of weapons
11. Various of mortars
12. Pan along grenade and rocket launchers
13. Wide of weapons and soldiers
14. Mounted automatic weapons
15. Soldier arranging weapons
16. Soldiers in armoured vehicles on perimeter of weapons haul
17. SOUNDBITE: (English) Major Alex Dick, British Armed Forces Spokesman
"Behind me here you can see approximately twelve hundred and ten weapons. Eighty per cent of which are able to be fired right now. We assess 95 per cent of these weapons, that remaining 15 per cent with a little work on them, are capable of being fired within minutes. We will start destroying those weapons today. There will be a Hungarian team coming in that will actually cut up and compress these weapons until they are effectively scrap. We have already started demolishing the mines and explosives and will continue to do that over the next couple of days."
18. SOUNDBITE: (English) Unidentified British soldier
"Okay then the point five, 50 calibre. This one is a Browning. It's American made, okay, use by the Americans and the British army. Always mounted, mounted on vehicles or put on a tripod."
19. Various of boxes of ammunition
20. Soldier preparing to destroy mines, mortars, grenades and ammunition
21. Explosion as ammunition is destroyed

STORYLINE:

The destruction of more than 12 hundred weapons collected by NATO forces from ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia is continuing despite a political impasse that has disrupted "Operation Essential Harvest".

Debate in the Macedonia parliament on reforms aimed at boosting the status of the ethnic Albanian minority resumed on Monday after it was suspended last week, threatening the fragile peace with the Albanian rebels.

The weapons collection mission was halted because of fears the suspension of the debate could lead to a resumption of hostilities between the rebels and the Macedonian security forces.

Despite the halt the hundreds of guns and tonnes of ammunition recovered so far from the Albanians, are being cut up and destroyed.

British forces put on display the haul so far at Krivolak, a weapons collection point about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south west of the Macedonian capital, Skopje.

Hundreds of rifles, machine guns, mortars and rocket and grenade launchers were on show.

They will be cut up and rendered useless by a Hungarian weapons destruction team.

The mines, ammunition and other explosives are being destroyed by controlled blasts on the edge of the collection camp.

"Operation Essential Harvest" was officially launched on 22 August and effectively started on 27 August.

It is a 30-day mission involving up to three and a half thousand NATO troops, with logistical support, to disarm ethnic Albanian groups and destroy their weapons.

The operation was approved on 29 June and implemented on the sole condition that the political dialogue between the various parties in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had a "successful outcome" and a cease-fire was respected.

This operational plan was drawn up in response to a request for NATO assistance made by Macedonian President Trajkovski on 20 June.

NATO had been warned of the risks of the mission to collect more than three thousand weapons, to be voluntarily given up by rebels, by late September.


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