Albanian party

A spokesperson for Macedonia's main ethnic Albanian party, the DUI, - junior party in government - the said that unless all four main political parties participate in the June elections, the credibility of the vote will be questionable and it will not help solve Macedonia's deep political crisis.

Chanting slogans against the heads of Macedonia's ruling parties, several thousand ethnic Albanians rallied on Friday in Skopje at a protest organized by Albanian associations and small political parties.

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will meet at 12:00 today, 8 January, at the Foreign Ministry, with the President of DUI – the Albanian party that is a coalition partner in the government of FYROM – Ali Ahmeti, who will be accompanied by FYROM Deputy Prime Ministers Musa Xhaferi and Fatmir Besimi.

A working lunch will follow the meeting, according to a Foreign ministry’s announcement.

In a sign of growing disarray in the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, two leading figures, the MP and head of the party's general assembly, Zuluf Adili, and Gzim Ostreni, a former DUI secretary general, said they will form a new party called Unity.

Ostreni was one-time head of the general staff of the ethnic Albanian insurgents during the armed conflict of 2001.

A member of Macedonia's junior ruling ethnic Albanian party, the DUI, was shot dead on Thursday in Kumanovo - scene of a shootout in May between Albanian militants and police.

The new party, called Movement for Reforms - Democratic Party of Albanians, was registered on Sunday, soon after a Macedonian court decided not to give the leadership of the DPA to Sela, who had claimed that he was the rightful president of the opposition party.

Ali Ahmeti, the main coalition partner to PM Nikola Gruevski's government in Macedonia, has openly called on citizens to attend peaceful protests.

"All of you, take to the streets to protest on Sunday," BGNES wire service quotes him as saying in an interview with Alsat-M TV channel.

The opposition Social Democrats presented covertly-recorded tapes on Monday that they said proved that PM Nikola Gruevski personally agreed an amnesty in the four war-crimes cases related to alleged atrocities committed by ethnic Albanians.

Macedonia's main ethnic Albanian party has proposed its own solution to the country's longlasting dispute over a census.

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Murder of teen not ethnically motivated - Albanian party

SKOPJE -- The murder of a Macedonian teenager for which an Albanian has been arrested as a suspect was not ethnically motivated, the Albanian DUI party has said.

This party condemned the incident in the strongest terms, but also appealed that it not be placed "in the ethnic context."