Seven arrested in Macedonia over deadly clashes

Macedonian police said Thursday they had arrested seven people in connection with clashes between security forces and an armed ethnic Albanian group in May that left 18 people dead.

 Eight police officers were among those killed in the shootout in the northern town of Kumanovo, the worst unrest in Macedonia since a conflict in 2001 between the government and ethnic Albanian rebels.

 At the time of the shootout, 30 ethnic Albanians, including 18 from nearby Kosovo, were arrested. Macedonia labelled the gunmen as "terrorists" and claimed they were planning to attack state institutions.

 On Thursday, the prosecutor for organised crime announced the opening of an investigation against another seven suspects, all of whom were arrested.

 The new suspects, whose identity and nationality have not been revealed, were arrested in the villages of Brest, Malino and Otlja, which are near Kumanovo, police spokesman Ivo Kotevski told reporters.

 Those arrested Thursday, in areas mostly home to ethnic Albanians, are suspected of having housed the armed group involved in the fighting, Kotevski said.

 The 2001 conflict pitted the government against rebels from the National Liberation Army seeking more rights for ethnic Albanians, who make up about a quarter of the country's 2.1 million people.

 The shooting came amid a deep political crisis in Macedonia, with the opposition and government trading serious allegations -- including of spying and corruption -- and supporters of both sides taking to the streets in protest.

 The European Union brokered negotiations over the summer to end the crisis which had for months paralysed the small Balkan country, which aspires to join the EU.