SKOPJE, (Islamweb & Agencies) - A Macedonian soldier was killed late Sunday during clashes with ethnic Albanian fighters near the northwestern town of Tetovo, an army spokesman told AFP.
Suspected members of the National Liberation Army (NLA) "opened fire on Macedonian army positions at Kale, in the heights above Tetevo, and a soldier was killed," Colonel Blagoja Markovski said.
He said two government soldiers were also injured in a separate incident during the aftrenoon.
The death followed a day of skirmishes between government forces and NLA fighters in the hills around Tetevo, which has been the scene of heavy fighting since February. The fighting also ended several days of relative calm.
Washington's new special envoy to Macedonia James Pardew was meanwhile due to meet the country's top politicians on Monday. (Read photo caption below).

Pardew arrived on Sunday, urging the country's multi-ethnic leadership to take responsibility for ending a four-month-old Albanian uprising before it turns into civil war.
The new U.S. envoy repeated Western criticism of both the Albanian fighters for using violence to highlight the plight of their ethnic brethren in the country and the Macedonian government's heavy-handed response.
``Those who favor the use of force are undermining the peace process,'' Pardew said.
PHOTO CAPTION:
James Pardew, U.S. special envoy speaks to the media as he arrives at the Aleksander Palace hotel in Skopje, July 1, 2001. Pardew urged the country's politicians to take responsibility for resolving a rebellion by ethnic Albanian rebels before it erupts into full-blown civil war. (Peter Andrews/Reuters