Mexico City ? Mexican President Felipe Calderon replaced his point man in the drug war Monday, accepting the resignation of the attorney general whose image was tarnished by charges that his top confidant was on the take.

The departure of Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora constituted the biggest shakeup in Calderon’s offensive against organized crime. The president said it signified the second phase of his six-year presidency, which will reach its halfway mark in December.

Calderon said the changes did not signal a relaxation in the government’s assault on vicious drug cartels.

But the president’s all-out war has drawn criticism as more than 13,500 people have been killed in unrelenting drug-related violence since he took office in late 2006.