President Milosevic removed the army's security chief yesterday in what analysts called a continuing purge of military professionals concerned about his confrontation with NATO over Kosovo.
He began to clean out military and security professionals of questionable loyalty last October when he took Serbia to the brink of getting bombed by NATO before accepting a ceasefire in Kosovo. And yesterday he moved again to ensure his military would remain loyal to him in the coming days.
"President Milosevic has adopted a decree on the appointment of Lieut Gen Geza Farkas as head of the security department of the Yugoslav army general staff," the official news agency, Tanjug, said.
Quoting the President's military office, Tanjug said: "The previous head of security, Lieut Gen Aleksandar Dimitrijevic, was appointed as deputy minister for political defence issues at the federal defence ministry."
Gen Dimitrijevic was effectively the army's No 2 officer after the chief-of-staff, whose predecessor was sacked last autumn after he warned Mr Milosevic against taking on NATO and complained that Serbia had become an international pariah.
An independent Belgrade analyst, who asked not to be named, said the removal of Gen Dimitrijevic betrayed that Mr Milosevic was still worrying about loyalty in the upper echelons of the military at a time of national emergency.
"He knows the army professionals see a discrepancy between Serbian and NATO military power and that they are not entirely lined up behind the government line - freedom or death."