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Page last updated at 22:07 GMT, Monday, 21 July 2008 23:07 UK
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Serbia captures fugitive Karadzic
Radovan Karadzic is one of the world's most wanted men
Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, one of the world's most
wanted men, has been arrested in Serbia after more than a decade.
He has been brought before Belgrade's war crimes court, in accordance with a
law on cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, the Serbian presidency said.
The Bosnian Serb wartime political leader disappeared in 1996.
He had been indicted by the UN tribunal for war crimes and genocide over the
1995 massacre at Srebrenica.
His wartime military leader, Ratko Mladic, remains at large.
Mr Karadzic's arrest was welcomed by war crimes prosecutors in The Hague as a
"milestone".
"Radovan Karadzic was located and arrested tonight" by Serbian security
officers, a statement by the office of President Boris Tadic said, without
giving details.
"Karadzic was brought to the investigative judge of the War Crimes Court in
Belgrade, in accordance with the law on cooperation with the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [ICTY]."
'Milestone in co-operation'
Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the ICTY, welcomed the arrest.
"I was informed by our colleagues in Belgrade about the successful operation
which resulted in the arrest of Radovan Karadzic," he said in a statement in
The Hague.
"On behalf of the Office of the Prosecutor, I would like to congratulate the
Serbian authorities, especially the National Security Council, Serbia's Action
Team in charge of tracking fugitives and the Office of the War Crimes
Prosecutor, on achieving this milestone in cooperation with the ICTY."
"This is a very important day for the victims who have waited for this arrest
for over a decade.
"It is also an important day for international justice because it clearly
demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law and that sooner or
later all fugitives will be brought to justice."
Karadzic denial
Mr Karadzic denied the charges against him soon after the first indictment and
refused to recognise the legitimacy of the UN tribunal.
The UN says Mr Karadzic's forces killed at least 7,500 Muslim men and boys from
Srebrenica in July 1995 as part of a campaign to "terrorise and demoralise the
Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat population".
He was also charged over the shelling of Sarajevo, and the use of 284 UN
peacekeepers as human shields in May and June 1995.
After the Dayton accord that ended the Bosnian war, the former nationalist
president went into hiding.
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