THE HAGUE, July 30: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was taken to a prison cell in The Hague on Wednesday to face trial at a UN war crimes tribunal on charges of genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnia war.

Karadzic, arrested near Belgrade last week, was flown out of Serbia by plane at night under tight security. Shortly after dawn, he was whisked from Rotterdam airport to the Scheveningen detention centre near The Hague.

He will appear before the tribunal for the first time at 4pm (1400 GMT) on Thursday, and will be asked to enter a plea to the charges against him, the court said.

“His arrest is a major achievement of Serbia’s cooperation with the UN security council,” Prosecutor Serge Brammertz told reporters at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

The trial was likely to begin in a few months, he added.

Karadzic’s former ally Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic was also brought before the tribunal for crimes during the Bosnia war but died in 2006 at the detention centre months before a verdict was due.

Brammertz said he was confident Karadzic’s trial would be efficient and successful, but noted that two fugitives were still on the run after the Balkan wars of the 1990s. They include the Bosnian Serb wartime commander, General Ratko Mladic.

Karadzic’s delivery to The Hague was key to Serbia securing closer ties with the European Union and his arrest was seen as a pro-Western signal by the new government sworn in earlier this month.

His arrival at The Hague is expected to defuse tensions in Belgrade over his arrest and unlock EU trade benefits.

“The arrest by the Serbian authorities of Mr Karadzic, then his transfer, mark an important step in the process of reconciliation in the western Balkans and in the rapprochement between Serbia and Europe,” the EU Presidency, held by France, said in a statement, and called on Serbia to “continue on this path” and capture the last two remaining fugitives.

Karadzic faces two charges of genocide over the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War Two.

His lawyer in Belgrade has said Karadzic, 63, believes he will be cleared of genocide and will defend himself.

—Reuters