MANU to amend controversial encyclopaedia

24/09/2009

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Members of the main editorial board of the controversial Macedonian Encyclopaedia decided on Wednesday (September 23rd) to correct parts of the publication and start work on a second, revised edition. The newly published book, launched by the Macedonian Academy of Science and Art (MANU), has sparked angry reactions among Albanian intellectuals and politicians inside Macedonia, as well as in Albania and Kosovo, because of the way the Albanian community is portrayed. They object to the encyclopedia's use of the terms "shiptari" and "planinci" -- which many consider denigrating -- and its claim that ethnic Albanians were settlers who arrived in Macedonia mostly after the 16th century.

The authors also claim that the National Liberation Army was trained by US and British special forces in 2001. Both the US and UK embassies have rejected the information as "false" and "ridiculous". (Dnevnik, Utrinski Vesnik - 24/09/09; MIA, A1, Sitel, Makfax - 23/09/09)