KARUNA SHINSHO, CNN ANCHOR, ASIA TONIGHT: More NATO troops are arriving in Macedonia, where Operation "Essential Harvest" is swinging into gear. The soldiers are there to collect and destroy arms ethnic rebels surrender. But as Walter Rodgers reports, the rival sides differ on how many weapons that involves.</s>WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tiny Macedonia is witnessing a substantial insertion of NATO troops, the biggest detachment being the British, who volunteered to lead this effort to avert a civil war in Macedonia between the government and ethnic Albanian guerrillas. There are expected to be enough NATO soldiers on the ground by Monday to begin collecting the guerrillas' weapons by then. Nigel Tench, a British army captain described his mission.</s>CAPT. NIGEL TINCH, BRITISH ARMY: I really probably prepared for absolutely anything. We do know</s>RODGERS: The NATO forces say they are only here 30 days to collect guerrilla weapons, although the soldiers and diplomats are now struggling to get both sides to agree on how many weapons the guerrillas have to turn in for NATO's mission to be credible. Now the ethnic Albanian minority here and the Macedonian majority are facing a stark choice, according to Daniel Speckhart, a NATO diplomat.</s>DANIEL SPECKHART, NATO AMBASSADOR: I honestly don't see any alternative for your country other than war.</s>RODGERS (on camera): Avoiding war is exactly what this operation is about. Even after NATO leaves in 30 days it's expected both sides will still have sufficient weapons to resume hostilities should they so choose. However, NATO is hoping that the moderates on both sides will now prevail and defuse the tensions, which have all along fueled this ethnic crisis here. Walter Rodgers, CNN, Skopja, Macedonia. END TO ORDER VIDEOTAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF CNN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE THE SECURE ONLINE ORDER FROM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
More NATO Troops Arrive in Macedonia