MACEDONIA: FURTHER GREEK AND FRENCH TROOPS ARRIVE TO BOLSTER NATO'S "OPERATION ESSENTIAL HARVEST" OPERATION
Record ID:
647593
MACEDONIA: FURTHER GREEK AND FRENCH TROOPS ARRIVE TO BOLSTER NATO'S "OPERATION ESSENTIAL HARVEST" OPERATION
- Title: MACEDONIA: FURTHER GREEK AND FRENCH TROOPS ARRIVE TO BOLSTER NATO'S "OPERATION ESSENTIAL HARVEST" OPERATION
- Date: 25th August 2001
- Summary: (W5) KRIVOLAK, MACEDONIA (AUGUST 25, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV: CONVOY OF GREEK MILITARY VEHICLES DRIVING ALONG HIGHWAY 0.05 2. SLV: CONVOY APPROACHING BASE 0.10 3. LAS: MILITARY VEHICLES DRIVING OVER HILL 0.28 4. PAN: QUEUE OF VEHICLES WAITING TO ENTER BASE 0.37 5. SV: SIGN ON WINDSCREEN OF TRUCK READING, "HELLENIC FORCE" 0.43 6. SV: GROUP OF GREEK AND MACEDONIAN SOLDIERS TALKING 0.50 7. SV: QUEUE OF VEHICLES WAITING TO ENTER BASE 0.56 8. SV: TRUCKS ENTERING BASE 1.06 (W5) SKOPJE, MACEDONIA (AUGUST 25, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 9. WIDE VIEW NATO NEWS CONFERENCE 1.09 10. SV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) NATO SPOKESMAN IN MACEDONIA, BERRY JOHNSON, SAYING: "At this time several nations have increased what they believe is necessary for their own force protection of forces. As well as logistics the national support they deem necessary in order to ensure those troops are properly taken care of. So once again we now expect that total to become between 4,500 and 5,000 which was within the original limits that were given to NATO." 1.50 11. CU: JOURNALISTS TAKING NOTES 1.56 12. SV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHNSON, SAYING "We do not believe that the conditions have changed. It is still operationally permissive for us to conduct our mission and we still see all sides very much committed to this process of moving towards a peaceful solution to the problem here." 2.10 13. LV: FRENCH MILITARY AIRCRAFT LANDING / HELICOPTER IN THE FOREGROUND 2.23 14. LV: AIRCRAFT TAXIING ON THE RUNWAY 2.31 15. CLOSE UP OF PROPELLERS OF AIRCRAFT 2.38 16. SLV: MARSHALL STANDING ON TARMAC, DIRECTING THE PLANE 2.43 17. WIDE VIEW OF AIRCRAFT ON TARMAC 2.50 18. MV: SOLDIERS STANDING ON TARMAC 2.53 (W6) SKOPJE, MACEDONIA (AUGUST 25, 2001) (REUTERS POOL - ACCESS ALL) 19. WIDE VIEW HELICOPTER TAKING OFF FROM THE GROUND 3.11 20. VARIOUS AS MEDICS PRACTICE MANOEUVRE / MEDICS LOWERED FROM HELICOPTER (7 SHOTS) 3.50 21. VARIOUS AS MEDICS TOUCH THE GROUND, DISMANTLE THEMSELVES FROM THE CORD AND WALK AWAY (3 SHOTS) 4.06 22. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIEUTENANT COLONEL CARMICHAEL OF THE 16TH CLOSE SUPPORT MEDICAL REGIMENT, SAYING: "We have been training to create an incident response team here today. An incident response team is "Taskforce Harvest Brigades", immediate eyes and ears on the scene of an accident. And what we do is use this very specialised American helicopter that you can see behind us and we put British EOD men and British medics on the back and that gives us a superb, fast response to any kind of incident on the ground." 4.30 23. WIDE VIEW OF SIGNAGE ON THE GROUND 4.34 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 9th September 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KRIVOLAK AND SKOPJE, MACEDONIA
- Country: Macedonia
- Reuters ID: LVA8HKYG8Q71459B2MJ4H9H6MWSF
- Story Text: The number of troops taking part in NATO's "Operation
Essential Harvest" in Macedonia has been increased and
now stands at over 4,500.
A second convoy of Greek soldiers has arrived at the
military base in Krivolac and Skopje's airfield received
further French troops to join the NATO mission designed to
collect weapons from ethnic Albanian guerrillas as part of a
peace plan in the region.
Should the need arise, British medics have developed a
response team at Skopje airport in case troops are injured
during the month-long operation.
NATO troops in Macedonia put the finishing touches on
Saturday (August 25) to plans to collect weapons handed in
voluntarily by ethnic Albanian rebels fighting in the
so-called National Liberation Army (NLA).
Troops from the Western alliance have been pouring into
the ex-Yugoslav republic since the mission got the green light
from NATO's 19 member states on Wednesday (August 22).
On Saturday a convoy of Greek soldiers and military
vehicles passed through the Macedonia-Greek border to the
Krivolak base. They followed a contingent which arrived the
day before numbering about 140 soldiers. Saturday's arrivals
brings the Greek force contributing to "Operation Essential
Harvest" to approximately 400.
During a press briefing in Skopje on Saturday NATO's
spokesman in Macedonia, Berry Johnson, spoke about the
increased numbers of NATO troops in Macedonia.
"At this time several nations have increased what they
believe is necessary for their own force, protection of
forces. As well as logistics, the national support they deem
necessary in order to ensure those troops are properly taken
care of," he said.
Johnson added that the increased number of troops were
within the original limits given to NATO.
The Western alliance has set a target of more than 3,000
weapons to be collected during "Operation Essential Harvest".
The first guerrilla arms, from pistols to heavy mortars,
armour-piercing rocket launchers and anti-tank mines, are due
to be handed in next week at about 15 collection sites in
northern hills where the NLA has fanned out since surfacing in
February.
The alliance is hoping that the collection of even a small
number of arms will engender confidence in a shaky peace
process which many Macedonians complain is an effort to pacify
the rebels.
Local witnesses reported two explosions in an area of
Tetovo late on Friday (August 24), causing damage to a vehicle
registration centre but causing no casualties. There was also
gunfire from the nearby frontline villages of Trebos and
Palatica overnight.
Despite this, Johnson said conditions pertaining to their
mission had not changed.
"It is still operationally permissive for us to conduct
our mission and we still see all sides very much committed to
this process of moving towards a peaceful solution to the
problem here," added Johnson.
Meanwhile more French troops touched down on the runway at
Skopje's airport on Saturday to join the mission which has set
a limited period of 30 days to collect and destroy the weapons
and then to pull out.
Elsewhere at the Skopje airport a special unit has been
created to respond quickly and efficiently to any potential
injuries on the ground during "Operation Essential Harvest".
The team is made up of British medics and is capable of
developing a central field hospital should the need arise.
Lieutenant Colonel Carmichael of the 16th Close Support
Medical Regiment said the response team, "Taskforce Harvest
Brigades" aims to be the, "immediate eyes and ears on the
scene of an accident".
"And what we do is use this very specialised American
helicopter that you can see behind us and we put British EOD
men and British medics on the back and that gives us a superb,
fast response to any kind of incident on the ground," he
added.
Following the weapons collection and the scheduled
departure of NATO troops from Macedonia further obstacles
remain - not least the need for a nationalist-dominated
parliament to ratify reforms granting Albanians more civil
rights and jobs in public services within the same ambitious
timeframe set for the arms handover.
The latest breakdown by nationality of the troops taking
part in "Operation Essential Harvest" is as follows: Britain
1,400; France 550; Italy 800; Germany 400; Greece 400;
Netherlands 200; Canada 200; Turkey 150; Spain 150; Czech
Republic 125; Belgium 100; Hungary 50; Norway 12; Poland 6;
Denmark 1.
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