Biljana Plavsic: warning to officers not to get involved

The BBC's Orla Guerin asks Ms Plavsic: how serious is the threat from Pale? Dur: 3'22"

Plavsic Summons Generals

The position of the army in the power struggle between the president and the former Bosnian Serb leader and indicted war criminal, Radovan Karadzic, is so far unclear. There are signs that some units may be taking sides.

At a news conference, Ms Plavsic said: "The army is accountable to the constitution, a non-political organisation. They don't have the right to be involved in some political conflict," she said.

British troops monitor the army split - just in case

She also asked the international community to keep its distance. "My message ... is 'leave us to solve this problem and we can solve this problem without any interference'."

Ms Plavsic said the meeting due to be held between her and the army high command - originally scheduled for Monday - had been put back a day so that all commanders could attend.

Officially she is commander in chief of the army, although her rivals in the Bosnian Serb capital, Pale, say they control the military.

So far the political struggle has produced tension but no violence and the army is not expected to involve itself in conflict.

British soldiers with the stabilisation force, SFOR, say they are keeping out of the dispute but are maintaining a watchful presence in case it does become violent.

Radovan Karadzic and his allies did have a stranglehold on state television and radio but that has been broken.

TV journalists in Banja Luka go their own way

Television staff in Banja Luka are now broadcasting their own news after severing joint transmission links with studios in Pale.

A similar cut was made in the Bosnian Serb radio station. Biljana Plavsic can expect to benefit considerably from the changes.

The fight for control could divide the Republika Srpska in two, into pro- and anti-Karadzic factions. It now has two competing administrations, in Pale and in Banja Luka.

A formal split would be a fresh headache for the international community but a BBC correspondent says most diplomats believe Ms Plavsic will eventually win out over her predecessor.