The Serbian army chief of general staff was dismissed on Tuesday as Serbian President Boris Tadic intervened to stop a dispute between the top military official and the defense minister, Xinhua reported.
President Tadic invoked his constitutional powers to relieve Lieutenant General Zdravko Ponos of his duties, Tadic's office said in a statement, without giving a reason for the dismissal.
The deputy chief of general staff, Lieutenant General Miloje Miletic, will take over until the appointment of a new chief of general staff, the statement said.
The dispute became public as Ponos told a Belgrade daily last week that Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac had "no concept" of defense issues. Ponos also said Serbia had no defense strategy and the reform of the army had been halted.
After Ponos' publicly-given statements, it could be heard from military circles that the defense minister is incapable, arrogant and inclined to suspicious dealings. On the other hand, the Ministry of Defense claims that Ponos has ignored the minister and has not submitted a single report in a year.
The dispute was discussed in a marathon meeting of the Serbian National Security Council on Monday. Earlier, Sutanovac had won the support of the Serbian government in his dispute with Ponos.
President Tadic has said both Ponos and Sutanovac bore responsibility for the dispute, but Ponos should not have criticized the defense minister publicly.
The 46-year-old Ponos was appointed army chief of general staff in June 2006.