The general said they were trying to oust the legally elected authorities and take power by force and he warned that they "could not count on the people's support".

His published comments come after Serbian opposition leader Vuk Draskovic used his first rally since the Kosovo campaign to call for the resignation of the Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic.

The BBC's Jacky Rowland: "Remarks were clearly intended to counter reports of growing opposition"

At least 10,000 people - many of them brought in by bus for the event - gathered in the main square of the central Serbian town of Kragujevac.

Correspondents say the general's comments are a clear sign of army support for the Yugoslav leader.

General Ojdanic: "There are many ... who want to take power and create a new catastrophe"

General Ojdanic, the army chief of staff, is one of five top government officials, including President Milosevic, indicted on war crimes charges by an international tribunal in connection with atrocities against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

At the end of a week-long Balkan visit, Louise Arbour - the chief UN war crimes prosecutor - said the tribunal was carrying out investigations that could lead to new charges being brought against the Yugoslav president.

"I certainly expect that our ongoing investigations in Kosovo may lead to expanded charges against the persons who are currently indicted," said Mrs Arbour.

The Hague-based court has already ruled that Bosnian Serb forces were acting under Yugoslav control during the war in Bosnia, and charged Mr Milosevic for war crimes over the conflict in Kosovo.

Reservists warn army

Opposition groups have been staging anti-Milosevic rallies almost daily.

Vuk Draskovic: How can we make Serbia a democratic part of Europe ?

Mr Draskovic, who served a brief spell in government, shares the broad aims of the umbrella Alliance for Change, led by Zoran Djindic: the resignation of Mr Milosevic.

But - for the time being at least - he has decided not to throw in his lot with the other opposition parties.

Draskovic: We want, we demand his resignation

Army reservists in southern Serbia have suspended their protests but say they will resume if the generals renege on their promise to pay their wages for serving in Kosovo during the Nato air strikes.

A spokesman for the protesters said all the 11,000 reservists would take to the streets again in Nis and surrounding areas.

He said the army had also conceded to their demand to publish the names of all the soldiers killed during the war in Kosovo, and to help their families pay their utility bills.

Pullout just in time

Yugoslavia's dramatic agreement to pull out of Kosovo came only three days after the United Kingdom and the United States finalised plans for a massive ground invasion of the province, according to a British Sunday newspaper.

The invasion, code-named "B-Minus", was to have been launched in the first week of September if Serbian forces had refused to withdraw from Kosovo, The Observer said.

KLA soldiers don uniforms

In Kosovo itself, the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Hashim Thaci, has addressed a rally in the southern town of Orahovac in commemoration of KLA fighters who were killed during the conflict.

About 300 KLA members were granted special permission to wear uniforms for the occasion.

Jacky Rowland: "Vuk Draskovic relaunches himself as the heir-apparent to the Serbian throne."

Addressing the gathering, Mr Thaci said, "You were the essence of our war."

"Our job is not done yet. We have to be united more than ever for the independence of Kosovo, and the world must recognize our right for a referendum on independence."

Mr Thaci is currently the most popular of the Kosovo Albanian leaders.

The new United Nations administrator for Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, has meanwhile completed his first tour of the province, with visits to Pec, Prizren and Mitrovica - towns which saw severe ethnic violence during the conflict and where reprisals have taken place since.

Mr Kouchner said the burning of houses, threats and other acts of revenge against Serbian and other minorities would not be tolerated.