NATO ambassadors are to meet here Friday to take administrative decisions concerning the deployment of a 400-strong advance force to Macedonia, a diplomatic source said.
But the source said no decision was planned on deployment of the full 3,500-troop force that is to disarm ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia, the operation called "essential harvest."
"The Friday meeting is planned to take administrative decisions on budgets and the beginning of transfer of authority to the NATO command," he told AFP.
"But a decision on the deployment of some 3,000 supplementary troops destined to make up essential harvest is not envisaged before early next week," said the source.
NATO, he said, is still waiting for four conditions to be met before launching that operation, including a durable ceasefire and a signed agreement by the ethnic Albanian rebels on the details of the arms-collecting operation.
The first of 400 British soldiers in the advance force are to leave for Macedonia on Friday to set up headquarters in Skopje, the British Defense Ministry said -- BRUSSELS (AFP)
