The ethnic Albanian political parties in Macedonia are organising a big rally today in the capital,Skopje, to express their concern over the violence in Kosovo.

Ethnic Albanians, who make up a quarter to a third of the population, are being brought in in buses from all over Macedonia.

There was a similar rally yesterday in the western Macedonian town of Tetovo, which has a majority ethnic Albanian population.

The Macedonian branch of the Helsinki Committe for Human Rights has said attendance at the rally should not be confined to ethnic Albanians, as the events in Kosovo concerned all Macedonians.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service