Montenegro's government, which is opposed to President Slobodan Milosevic, called for calm yesterday as rumours spread that army units based in the republic were preparing a military coup.
Tension has been high since NATO launched its attacks on Yugoslavia last week. On Wednesday Mr Milosevic removed the chiefs of staff at the Second Army stationed there, replacing them with his close allies.
Montenegro is Serbia's much smaller sister republic in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, but it has distanced itself from Milosevic and unlike Serbia has earned Western backing with economic and democratic reforms. Some 30,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo fleeing Serbian forces have gone to Montenegro.
Government officials say in private that they fear Belgrade might take advantage of the NATO offensive to grab control. In public, ministers have made repeated calls for calm, saying they could overcome the problems. "There is no reason to panic," Social Welfare Minister Predrag Drecun told a news conference yesterday.
Speculation about possible military action was echoed by the NATO allies, with senior British defence ministry official Edgar Buckley saying in London: "We have evidence to show that [Milosevic] is preparing a coup against Montenegro."
In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana warned Milosevic that NATO would stop any attempt by Belgrade to topple the government of Montenegro by force.
But Montenegro's main opposition party, the Socialist People's Party, a fervent supporter of Milosevic, said yesterday it was committed to stability.
"In a state of war, any change in the authorities would represent a revolution, a change brought about by violence and civil strife. We want to avoid this," SNP vice-president Predrag Bulatovic said. In a sign that opposition political forces were seeking to take the heat out of the situation, organisers of recent virulent anti-NATO rallies - which have been held daily since last week - called off a protest yesterday. Instead, they announced an open-air rock concert in Podgorica on Sunday.
But Mr Bulatovic did not think the protests had created tension. Instead, he blamed Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic and his allies for refusing to endorse Belgrade's declaration of a state of war, and for failing to muzzle the media.