On the day of the sacking the television reported Yugoslav Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic had relieved Draskovic of his post because of his "public statements" .

Draskovic had demanded Belgrade stop lying to the Serb people and had called for a UN-imposed solution in Kosovo.

But Bulatovic said that Draskovic's statements were "contrary to the government stance and undermined the reputation of the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" .

Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug reported foreign ministry spokesman Nebojsa Vujovic as dismissing Draskovic's comments on an international force for Kosovo.

Serb media filled bulletins with Milan Milutinovic in Pristina

Vujovic said the government's position was clear when it came to foreign troops.

Although Yugoslavia was prepared to accept "an international civilian, unarmed mission under UN auspices" the precondition for this was the withdrawal of NATO forces from the country's borders.

Montenegrin Radio reported one of Draskovic's allies, Information Minister Milan Komnenic, as saying the Serbian Information Ministry - controlled by Vojislav Seselj's Serbian Radical Party - had ordered the media not to publish Draskovic's statements.

He was quoted as saying it was not the fault of "the Yugoslav president, the president of Serbia, the federal government, or most senior officials in the republican government".

Instead, said the station, he blamed "some extremists, who are using this opportunity to realise the goal of war communism and dictatorship, are attempting to jeopardise national unity."

Draskovic defence pledge

Komnenic, Internal Trade Minister Slobodan Nenadovic and Minister without Portfolio Milan Bozic, all members of the Serbian Renewal Movement, resigned from the government on Wednesday, the private Belgrade news agency BETA reported, quoting Draskovic.

Belgrade-based Studio B Radio, owned by Draskovic, later broadcast his pledge to continue promoting the cause of national unity and the defence of the country.

"Dear citizens, you will realize that I will be making similar statements in the future - statements in the interests of Serbia, national unity and the defence of our country at these most difficult times for our nation in this century," Draskovic said.

He said that his party would continue to uphold the ideal of Serbian unity.

"Regarding the Serbian Renewal Movement, we shall continue to be what we were before joining the federal government - a major, democratic, patriotic and state-building party, which holds Serbia the most precious and the most valuable thing," he went on.

President dominates airtime

"In these cruel, most dramatic times for our people, we, as a party, as people, have one duty above all other duties - to contribute towards a national unity in the defence of our Kosovo, in the defence of our state from the NATO pact aggression," he added.

Official Serbian media devoted more time and space to Serbian President Milan Milutinovic's talks with ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova in Pristina on Wednesday.

Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug reported that the two had signed a joint statement "and mutually concluded that the talks on a peaceful and political solution for Kosovo and Metohija had to be direct and involve equal representation of all ethnic communities that reside in Kosovo and Metohija" .

Belgrade radio broadcast a statement made by Rugova after the conclusion of the talks.

"In this situation it is very important that we have achieved a higher degree of mutual trust... that we managed to cooperate more and of course that we will continue [to try] to achieve a solution for Kosovo on the present course, as we have agreed, with the help of the international community," Rugova said.

BBC Monitoring http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.