WASHINGTON, USA - The United States deplored the destruction of a Greek Orthodox church at a historic monastery in Macedonia on Tuesday and said the perpetrators should be "ashamed of themselves."
The Macedonian government accused ethnic Albanian guerrillas of destroying the St. Atanasius Church at Lesok, but the rebels denied responsibility.
U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said, "We deplore categorically last night's destruction of the Orthodox monastery at Lesok and condemn all acts of destruction of cultural and religious sites."
"The perpetrators of this disgraceful act should be ashamed of themselves. ... There's no place in this world for this type of destruction," he told a daily briefing.
Reeker declined to say what position the United States will take on whether NATO should deploy 3,500 troops in Macedonia to collect weapons from the ethnic Albanian guerrillas under a peace agreement reached Aug. 13.
NATO's North Atlantic Council is expected to decide on Wednesday whether the truce is stable enough to deploy troops.
"I'll leave that for our NATO mission to be in touch obviously with Washington and make determinations. I don't have anything for you to announce now," Reeker said.
15:24 08-21-01
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