TETOVO, Macedonia Macedonia's main Albanian political leader, Arben Dzaferi, is quoted by AFP as saying Sunday that the ethnic Albanian rebel group fighting government troops on the border with Kosovo is purely Macedonian and is fighting for Albanian minority rights.

"There is a tendency to say that the crisis is coming from Kosovo, that we are good guys and they (Kosovars) are bad guys. I do not think this is true," Dzaferi said in Tetovo.

Tetovo, 35 kilometers (21 miles) west of Skopje, is the largest Albanian-populated town in Macedonia.

Skopje says Albanians make up about 25 percent of the republic's 2 million population, while the Albanian politicians say the figure is more than 30 percent.

"We have our domestic problems which create radicalism," said Dzaferi, who is head of the main Albanian party in Macedonia, the Democratic Albanian Party (DPA).

Dzaferi, also one of the most popular leaders in the Albanian community, condemned the latest wave of violence between the rebels of the National Liberation Army (UCK) and Macedonian forces.

But he warned that Macedonia should be careful in dealing with the UCK attacks.

"If the Macedonian government makes mistakes, the number of people joining the movement will grow," Dzaferi said.

He said he had chosen a political path for improving and developing the rights of the Albanian community, and that his DPA party has joined the Skopje government of Prime Minister Ljubco Georgijevski.

"As a politician, I support peace, territorial integrity, and efforts of the international community to bring peace and stability in the Balkans," Dzaferi said.

But, speaking as an "analyst," he said there were several causes of the crisis, including what he called a "contradiction between the concept of the state and the multiethnic reality" and the fact that are few Albanians in the police force and administration.

"In the Parliament, the majority, with just one snap of the fingers, can eliminate the rights of the minority," he said.

Five of 16 Macedonian ministers are ethnic Albanians, while each ministry has a deputy or assistant of Albanian nationality, as is the case for the deputy prime minister and deputy chairman of the Parliament.

But the Albanians also insist that their language be recognized in the administration on official documents and identity papers. they also want school books revised, better access to universities and more high-level jobs.

Dzaferi said he had presented this analysis to the French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine when they met in Skopje on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, the UCK demanded that Macedonia to be transformed from a republic into a federation "of two constitutive peoples".

"A change of the Constitution must define Macedonia as a state of two constitutive people -- Albanians and Macedonians -- that would prevent discrimination against Albanians in political and state institutions, municipalities, education, science, culture and the army," the statement said.

The demands seem similar to Dzaferi's, but the strategy is different.

"We are trying to stop violence, to make people realize that peace is the best way. But peace is not pacification. We need peace with justice," he said.

Dzaferi said the Albanians would organize a big rally in Skopje on Tuesday calling for peace and the respect of Albanian minority rights.

In the cafes of Tetovo, where the Albanians represent between 70 and 80 percent of the population, the lessons of patience and moderation seemed to be more difficult to respect.

"Of course, there is tolerance in Macedonia, but only by the Albanians," one Albanian claimed, saying he could understand those who have taken up arms.

"The younger generation says: as there is no future for us, their won't be for them either."