Skopje--Macedonia's interior and transport ministers as well as the country's intelligence chief resigned Tuesday after deadly violence that pitted ethnic Albanian rebels against Macedonian police, a government spokesman said.
"Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska, Transport Minister Mile Janakieski as well as the director of DBK Saso Mijalkov presented their resignations," a government spokesman told AFP. "Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski accepted their resignations."
Spokesman Aleksandar Gjeorgiev did not elaborate on the reasons for their move, which comes after the Balkan nation was rocked by two days of clashes in a northern town at the weekend that left 22 people dead, including eight police officers.
The parliament was to convene on Wednesday to appoint the ministers' successors.
Intelligence chief Mijalkov's resignation letter, published by state-run news agency MIA, said his move was "in the interest of Macedonia" and "would help the political crisis to be resolved." He claimed the crisis was "imposed by the opposition."
The incidents in Kumanovo were the worst in Macedonia for 14 years, and raised fears of fresh unrest similar to the country's 2001 ethnic conflict.
NATO and the EU have called for a return to calm.
AFP
