Several hundred ethnic Albanian civilians moved out of rebel-held villages in northern Macedonia overnight, easing the threat of an army assault after the expiry of a Thursday noon (11 a.m. Irish time) deadline.
Macedonian government and Western diplomatic sources said the civilian movement and the wish to avoid casualties meant there was unlikely to be any full-scale tank and infantry offensive against ethnic Albanian guerrilla strongholds.
They said some 740 villagers had left Opaje and Nikustac. Macedonia has accused the rebels of holding several thousand villagers as human shields.
President Mr Boris Trajkovski issued a final appeal to frightened ethnic Albanian civilians to move to safety, saying international observers would be at police and army checkpoints to ensure their correct treatment.
Reporters who toured the fringes of the guerrilla-held region, west of the city of Kumanovo on the Athens-to-Belgrade highway, said they saw increased army and police checkpoints and roving patrols but no sign of a major army buildup.
Access to the rebel areas was denied.