Britain's Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon called Monday on other countries to play their role in the operation to collect weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia.
Britain forms the biggest contingent of NATO forces in Macedonia, with some 1,500 troops already on the ground and 400 on stand-by.
"At the end of 30 days I believe we will have contributed significantly to an important international operation and equally, I will be looking to other countries to play their part as well," he said.
"We are confident that the situation on the ground will be very different from the one at the beginning of the 30 days in the sense that this is a confidence-building process.
"It's not only collecting weapons, it's also a political and constitutional process within Macedonia," he added.
Asked to guarantee the return of the troops at the end of the 30-day period, Hoon told BBC radio: "As far as these forces are concerned, I'm pretty confident that they will be home."
He said he would be meeting political leaders in Macedonia to "emphasise the importance of their part in the process."
Asked if British troops would pull out of Macedonia if the process failed, Hoon added: "That's clearly an option which is available."
"We have to make an assessment in light of the circumstances. We are not giving up on this process," he added.
NATO has a mission to collect 3,300 rebel arms by September 26. The alliance is to gather the weapons in three phases, with the first phase having already netted more than a third of the total.
The political process of implementing the framework peace agreement, which grants the rebels an amnesty and greater civil rights for ethnic Albanians, is operating in phases parallel to Operation Essential Harvest -- LONDON (AFP)
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