Serbian Prime Minister Mr Zoran Djindjic said today his government had asked deputy premier Mr Momcilo Perisic to resign because of his involvement in a spy scandal which has sparked a row with the United States.
Military police arrested Mr Perisic, who was an army general during the rule of Slobodan Milosevic, and a US diplomat in a restaurant near Belgrade on Thursday evening and accused the deputy prime minister of passing top secret military documents.
Mr Djindjic has reacted with fury to the arrests, saying they constituted a first-rate scandal and that military intelligence services were out of control. He has said civilian leaders were not informed in advance about the swoop.
But Mr Djindjic said he had asked Mr Perisic to resign from his post to allow the courts to get to the bottom of the whole affair without any obstacles. As a member of the government, Mr Perisic enjoys immunity from criminal investigations.
"I had a meeting with Mr Perisic this afternoon and asked him to submit his resignation from the post of deputy prime minister," Mr Djindjic said. He said Mr Perisic, who has insisted he is innocent, would give his response on Tuesday.