War crimes suspect Karadzic to represent himself

Former Bosnian-Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic will represent himself should he be extradited to answer war crime charges in The Hague, according to his lawyer.

Svetozar Vujacic said the 63-year-old, who was arrested this week after spending more than a decade on the run, was still planning to lodge an appeal against his extradition on Friday.

He added: "Karadzic will have a legal team here in Serbia that will help him in his defence, but he will represent himself in The Hague tribunal."

Mr Karadzic is wanted in the International Criminal Court (ICC) to answer 11 charges of war crimes and genocide during the 1992 to 1995 war and the Srebrenica massacre.

"I do not think they will accept my appeal but I want to disrupt their plans to extradite him," Mr Vujacic said.

"I'll use the legal opportunity to appeal on the last possible day, which is Friday. Radovan is feeling great, he is much calmer than I am; he is healthy."

If Mr Karadzic is extradited as expected and represents himself he will follow in the footsteps of his onetime ally Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president who died while on trial at the ICC.

Yesterday Serbian officials said Mr Karadzic was practising alternative medicine in a clinic in Belgrade and had adopted a false identity while in hiding.

He had developed a "very convincing disguise", with a long white beard, and called himself Dragan Dabic, it was declared.

Mr Karadzic, dubbed the European version of Osama Bin Laden, had been one of the world's most wanted men after disappearing in 1996.

According to Serbia he was arrested on Monday in the capital Belgrade, but his lawyer said he was detained last Friday while on a bus.