Yugoslavia's deputy prime minister, Vuk Draskovic, has been sacked from his job for expressing views which contradict the government's official position. Mr Draskovic had accused President Slobodan Milosovic of lying about the cause of the NATO air offensive, and voiced his support for the stationing of foreign troops in Kosovo. His comments had fuelled speculation that tensions inside the government were beginning to surface.
NATO said this showed that no dissent can be tolerated. The alliance itself has been on the defensive after the latest of apparent blunders involving the deaths of Yugoslav civilians. NATO has admitted that one of its warplanes was responsible for bombing a residential area in southern Serbia. At least 16 Yugoslav civilians were killed. NATO's spokesman, Jamie Shea, said a laser guided missile veered off course after being fired at an army barracks in the southern Serbian town of Surdulica.
As diplomatic efforts to end the Kosovo crisis continue, the American Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott said today that there was nothing to indicate that the Belgrade government was closer to accepting a peace deal for Kosovo on the conditions laid out by NATO. He was speaking after he had talks with the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Berlin. Yesterday, talks between Mr Talbott and Russia's special envoy on Yugoslavia, Viktor Chernomyrdin failed to produce a breakthrough, although Washington and Moscow said they would work together to resolve the crisis. Germany's Defence Minister, Rudolf Scharping, has also had talks with the Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, and Mr Chernomyrdin, in Moscow.
Reports from Montenegro's capital say Podgorica has again been attacked by NATO warplanes this afternoon. The Montenegrin government, Serbia's junior partner in the Yugoslav Federation, has been critical of Slobodan Milosevic, but has also come out against NATO's attacks.
Last night, three districts of Belgrade were struck in NATO air attacks, along with areas of central Serbia.
