SKOPJE -- Macedonian police killed five alleged ethnic Albanian rebels in a raid on a house in Skopje on Tuesday in a new blow to hopes of a peaceful end to a five-month guerrilla rebellion. "A terrorist group was preparing an attack on Skopje and the police carried out an operation early this morning," Minister Ljube Boskovski told Reuters. "Five people are killed, five are detained." The alleged plot and the killings further battered a tenuous truce in effect since last month during current peace talks between the leaders of the main Macedonian and ethnic Albanian political parties in a southern town. Boskovski, a cabinet hardliner, who opposed to big concessions, said the rebels were planning to set up a base in the nearby town of Aracinovo and from there they would attack different parts of the Macedonian capital. Ethnic Albanians in the predominantly Albanian quarter of Skopje estimated that about 300 police arrived at about 4 a.m. (0200 GMT) and also beat Albanians coming out of early morning prayers in a mosque. Meanwhile, an AFP report said police in Skopje killed five albanians overnight and seized a van full of weapons in an operation seen as jeopardiz Albanian guerrillas had already been delayed by Macedonia's 11th-hour demand for full disarmament of the guerrillas ahead of an accord.

Earlier in Ohrid, a European official said the peace talks were scheduled to resume at 10:15 am (0815 GMT). Macedonian and ethnic Albanian negotiators took a break from the negotiating table on the ninth day of talks on Monday, after Macedonian political leaders put new demands on the table, dashing hopes that a peace accord was imminent. In a last-minute demand which took international envoys by surprise, Macedonia said a peace accord aimed at avoiding war in the Balkan country, should only be implemented once ethnic Albanian rebels had withdrawn from their positions. The rebels have been fighting government forces in the north of the country since February. NATO's top envoy to the Balkans, Pieter Feith, was set to visit this southwestern town to help reassure Macedonian officials that the disarmament of the NLA rebels would be carried out properly by NATO, sources said. Feith managed to secure a truce accord between Skopje government forces and the NLA rebels in July after serious fighting that has threatened to lead the country into a wide-spread civil war. Meanwhile, an AFP report said police in Skopje killed five albanians overnight and seized a van full of weapons in an operation seen as jeopardizing peace talks set to resume here Tuesday.

The peace talks between the Macedonian government and ethnic Albanian guerrillas had already been delayed by Macedonia's 11th-hour demand for full disarmament of the guerrillas ahead of an accord. Earlier in Ohrid, a European official said the peace talks were scheduled to resume at 10:15 am (0815 GMT). Macedonian and ethnic Albanian negotiators took a break from the negotiating table on the ninth day of talks on Monday, after Macedonian political leaders put new demands on the table, dashing hopes that a peace accord was imminent. In a last-minute demand which took international envoys by surprise, Macedonia said a peace accord aimed at avoiding war in the Balkan country, should only be implemented once ethnic Albanian rebels had withdrawn from their positions. The rebels have been fighting government forces in the north of the country since February. NATO's top envoy to the Balkans, Pieter Feith, was set to visit this southwestern town to help reassure Macedonian officials that the disarmament of the NLA rebels would be carried out properly by NATO, sources said. Feith managed to secure a truce accord between Skopje government forces and the NLA rebels in July after serious fighting that has threatened to lead the country into a wide-spread civil war.