Radovan Karadzic, one of the world's most wanted men dubbed as the 'Butcher of Bosnia' for his alleged role in atrocities during the 1990s Balkans conflict has been arrested.
LONDON: Radovan Karadzic, one of the world's most wanted men dubbed as the 'Butcher of Bosnia' for his alleged role in atrocities during the 1990s Balkans conflict that left thousands of people dead, has been arrested in Belgrade after a 13-year-long manhunt.
Karadzic, 63, was working at a medical clinic in Serbia's capital Belgrade using a false identity and was heavily disguised by a snow white beard before his arrest, Serbian officials said on Tuesday.
He was arrested after a weeks-long covert operation to track down the former leader, said prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic.
Karadzic is accused of ordering the deadly siege of Sarajevo and some of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II -- including the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica.
Serbian minister Rasim Ljajic told reporters that Karadzic was using false documents giving him the name of "Dragan Dabic" and a non-Serbian identity at the time of arrest.
"It wasn't expected at all that this would ever happen to Radovan Karadzic -- that he would ever be caught in this way," said Ljajic, president of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.
The capture of the so-called "Butcher of Bosnia" has been hailed as a landmark for international justice and for Serbia, whose new government has pledged to bring its wanted war criminals to justice as a condition of membership of the European Union, media reports said.
"We understand that there is an absolute determination by the state to finish this job," prosecutor Vukcevic said.
Karadzic's arrest earlier drew jubilation in the streets of Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, which Bosnian Serb forces had shelled heavily during the war, and a small protest from ultra Serb nationalists in front of Belgrade's heavily-guarded war crimes court.
His lawyer, Sveta Vujacic, said there were concerns over Karadzic's arrest and treatment, accusing authorities of violating the law by blindfolding him and holding him in a room during the three days prior to announcing his capture.
Karadzic -- last seen in public in 1996 -- was the Bosnian Serb political leader during the 1992-1995 war that followed Bosnia-Herzegovina's secession from Yugoslavia.
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