The National Liberation Army (Albanian: Ushtria Çlirimtare Kombëtare - UÇK ; Macedonian: Ослободителна национална армија - ОНА), also known as the Macedonian UÇK, is a military organization that operated in the Republic of Macedonia in 2001. It is not to be confused with the Kosovar UÇK - Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës - the Kosovo Liberation Army. Official languages Macedonian Capital Skopje President Branko Crvenkovski Prime Minister Vlado Bučkovski Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % water Ranked 146th  25,333 km²  1. ... Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës. ... Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës. ...

The NLA was founded in the fall of 1999, and was led by Ali Ahmeti, the nephew of Fazli Veliu, founder of the KLA, but was out of the public eye until it began to openly be engaged in, what was considered by Macedonian government and media, "large scale crimes" in 2000 and 2001. In March 2001, when the majority Albanian population in Tetovo, the second largest city in Macedonia, was attacked, NLA members were unable to take Tetovo, but controlled the hills and mountains between Tetovo and Kosovo. NLA was also supported by incursions from Kosovo, so the links to KLA and UCPMB was obvious, but never officially admitted. Ali Ahmeti (born January 4, 1959) is the political leader of the Democratic Union for Integration (Bashkimi Demokratik për Integrim), a coalition partner in the Macedonian government, despite having once been charged with terrorism from the same government. ... Tetovo-center of the city Tetovo is a city in the north-west Macedonia, built on the foothills of the Shar mountain and divided by the Pena (Shkumbin) river. ... Kosovo (Serbian: Косово и Метохија / Kosovo i Metohija, Albanian: Kosovë / Kosova) is a province of Serbia. ... The Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (Albanian: Ushtria Çlirimtare e Preshevës, Medvegjës dhe Bujanovcit - UCPMB) was a guerrilla group fighting for independence from Serbia for the three municipalities: Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac, home to most of the Albanians of inner Serbia, adjacent...

The Macedonian NLA consists of ethnic Albanians (of which many were probably former KLA members) seeking to gain greater political and economic freedom in western Macedonia. Some allege that the NLA is in favor of a Greater Albania in which western Macedonia would become part of Albania again. The KLA insignia The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA or UÇK; Albanian: Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës) was a group of Albanian militants which operated in Kosovo during the late 1990s. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ...

After the Ohrid Agreement, the NLA agreed to cease-fire in June. Under the Ohrid Agreement, the Macedonian government pledged to improve the rights of the Albanian population, that makes up just over 25 per cent of the population. Those rights include making Albanian language an official language, increasing the participation of ethnic Albanians in government institutions, police and army. Also, under this agreement the University of Tetovo was to be recognised.

Most importantly, under the Ohrid Agreement, Macedonian government agreed to a new model of decentralisation. This process in ongoing.

In addition, according to this accord the NLA was to disarm and hand over their weapons to a NATO force.

Operation "Essential Harvest" was officially launched on 22 August and effectively started on 27 August. This 30-day mission involved approximately 3500 NATO troops to disarm the NLA and destroy their weapons. Just hours after NATO wrapped up the operation, Ali Ahmeti told reporters attending a news conference in the rebel stronghold of Sipkovica that he was dissolving the National Liberation Army and that it was time for ethnic reconciliation.

Many members of the Macedonian NLA, led by Ali Ahmeti, later formed the Democratic Union for Integration, a political party that has won the majority of the Albanian votes in the 2002 election and it is a part of the ruling coalition along with SDSM and LDP. Ali Ahmeti (born January 4, 1959) is the political leader of the Democratic Union for Integration (Bashkimi Demokratik për Integrim), a coalition partner in the Macedonian government, despite having once been charged with terrorism from the same government. ... The Democratic Union for Integration (Bashkimi Demokratik për Integrim, BDI, Demokratska Unija za Integracija, DUI) is the largest political party in the Republic of Macedonia among ethnic Albanians. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (Macedonian: Социјалдемократски Сојуз на Македонија Socijaldemokratski Sojuz na Makedonija, СДСМ SDSM) is a political party in the Republic of Macedonia. ... The Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Demokratska Partija) is a liberal party in the Republic of Macedonia. ...