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NATO Approves Troops to Macedonia
NATO gave the go-ahead Wednesday for 400 troops to deploy in Macedonia, the vanguard of a mission to disarm rebels.
But deploying a full 3,500-member NATO force depends on whether a cease-fire takes hold in the troubled Balkan nation.
The British servicemen and women from the 16 Air Assault Brigade will set out for Macedonia on Friday, most of them headquarters, communications and other support personnel, officials said.
The 19 NATO members approved the smaller force in an urgent meeting called despite a Roman Catholic holiday.
The 400-member contingent represents an attempt to find middle ground ¡ª avoiding the risk of sending in the entire force while fighting persists and at the same time moving quickly to support the fragile peace deal signed Monday.
NATO says that until there is a durable cease-fire, it won't send all 3,500 troops, including Americans, into Macedonia ¡ª where they will be in what are now front-line areas, collecting weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels.
The North Atlantic Council, NATO's ruling body, plans to meet again at the end of this week or early next week to decide on the entire deployment of the mission, code-named Essential Harvest.
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