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Fugitive Karadzic worked in Belgrade clinic

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War crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic practiced alternative medicine under a false name in the Serbian capital, officials said Tuesday, after his arrest following years on the run.

Karadzic, the wartime Bosnian Serb leader who remained at large for more than 10 years despite an international manhunt, was arrested by Serbian security forces on Monday night near Belgrade, where he had been working.

Despite his status as one of the most wanted men on the planet, Karadzic, 63, had been working in a medical clinic with only a false name and a thick beard and white hair to conceal his identity.

"He was working and performing alternative medicine, making money that way," said Rasim Ljajic, the Serbian minister in charge of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.

"He was very convincing in hiding his identity," said Ljajic.

Karadzic had last been seen in public in the eastern Bosnian town of Han Pijesak in July 1996, and was previously thought to have hidden in Serb-controlled parts of Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia, or even Russia.

Following his capture, he was questioned by a magistrate who concluded "all conditions have been met for his transfer" to The Hague for trial, said Serbia's war crimes prosecutor.

The arrest of Karadzic -- wanted for orchestrating two of Europe's worst atrocities since World War II, the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre -- means there are only two more fugitives of the U.N. court at large.

They are his former military commander Ratko Mladic, 65, and Goran Hadzic, 49, a former Serb politician wanted for "ethnic cleansing" in Croatia.

The handover of the war crimes fugitives is a major pre-condition for Serbian accession to the European Union.

Karadzic's arrest took place two weeks after the formation of a new pro-EU membership government dominated by President Boris Tadic's pro-Western Democratic Party.

It also came only four days after Sasa Vukadinovic, close to the Democrats, became the head of Serbia's police intelligence agency, replacing an official aligned with former hardline nationalist prime minister Vojislav Kostunica.

Riot police late Tuesday dispersed a group of about 100 hardline nationalists who gathered in Belgrade to protest against Karadzic's arrest.

Karadzic's arrest was welcomed by the United States, the European Union, and the U.N. war crimes court.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon hailed it as "a historic moment for the victims" and praised Serbia for taking a "decisive step" toward ending impunity for those indicted for war crimes.

Bosnian Croats and Muslims, against whom Karadzic waged a bloody campaign in the early 1990s, see him as a murderous megalomaniac.

"I had lost all hope that this would ever happen. But the wheels of justice grind slowly," said Sejo Hodzic, who was shot by a sniper during the Sarajevo siege.

While Muslims staged noisy celebrations on Sarajevo's streets, Serbs in Karadzic's wartime stronghold of Pale expressed their anger and disappointment.

"It's not fair. Only Serbs stand war crimes trials at The Hague," said Slavko Vasic, 45.

"A major thug has been removed from the scene," former U.S. envoy to the Balkans Richard Holbrooke said, describing Karadzic as the "Osama bin Laden of Europe."

But the Russian foreign ministry stressed any trial should be "impartial," accusing the U.N. court of "an often biased approach."

Karadzic's lawyer Svetozar Vujacic said his client would appeal the decision to transfer him to The Hague, expected in the coming days.

The suspect's brother said Karadzic and his family were "optimistic" he could beat the war crimes charges.

"Thank God, my brother is alive and healthy. I can say that he is bursting with optimism," said Luka Karadzic.

In the bitter war against Bosnia's Muslim-led government, Karadzic is said to have authorized so-called "ethnic cleansing" in which more than a million non-Serbs were driven from their homes.

The expulsions were accompanied, according to foreign observers, by a a calculated program of widespread killings and up to 20,000 rapes.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he hoped Karadzic's arrest would help unblock a key accord for closer ties between Serbia and the EU.

© Wire reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

6 Comments
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He don't have to work another day in his life, under the new program that he just entered. < :-)

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Symbolically they should house him in Slobo's very own death cell in Den Haag.

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But the Russian foreign ministry stressed any trial should be “impartial,” accusing the U.N. court of “an often biased approach.”

Coming from a country with an immaculate record on justice and fairness this cannot be ignored.

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calculated program of widespread killings and up to 20,000 rapes

So much pain. Good that they finally got him.

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I can say that he is bursting with optimism,” said Luka Karadzic.

Optimism on getting justice? He ought to get justice of his own flavor. There would be nothing left to be optimistic about.

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But the Russian foreign ministry stressed any trial should be “impartial,” accusing the U.N. court of “an often biased approach.”

Russian hypocrisy...

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