Copyright CanWest Interactive, Inc. Jul 23, 2008

Using the classic technique of hiding in plain sight, top war-crimes fugitive Radovan Karadzic lived the life of a caring physician, lecturing in community centres, contributing to medical journals and even writing poetry.

As Dr. Dragan Dabic, he practised homeopathic medicine at a private clinic in Belgrade, treating patients who had no idea their doctor had been dubbed "the Osama bin Laden of Europe."

True, the 63-year-old had completely changed his appearance. Instead of the groomed salt-and-pepper mane he sported in his days as president of the Republika Srpska, he grew his hair long enough to tie back into a ponytail and braid. Most of his face was obscured by a bushy, if neatly trimmed, white beard. Old-fashioned glasses with large frames covered his eyes.

"He was very convincing in hiding his identity. He was working and performing alternative medicine, making money that way," Rasim Ljajic, the minister in charge of co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal, said yesterday.

His false papers, obtained from a country outside Serbia, were good enough to pass scrutiny.

Yesterday, details started to emerge of the operation that captured one of the Balkans' most wanted men, and the odd public persona he adopted.

The office of Serbia's war crimes prosecutor said intelligence officers were on the trail of Mr. Karadzic's wartime military leader, Ratko Mladic, when they stumbled upon Mr. Karadzic himself.

Agents waited for the right moment when he was alone and could be arrested without putting other people at risk. That moment came on a bus in a Belgrade suburb on Monday evening.

In the early reports that have emerged of the alter ego he effectively constructed, he seemed to have won over neighbours with his quiet charm and work associates with his professional demeanour.

Mr. Karadzic so thoroughly embodied his homeopathic identity that he even crafted an unusual hairstyle to channel alternative energies.

Why the arrest occurred now is not clear. But just weeks ago, on July 7, a new pro-Western coalition government was formed in Serbia, whose overriding goal is to bring the country into the European Union.

The EU, meanwhile, has made delivering indicted war criminals to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague a precondition for Serbia's membership, and has been particularly scathing about Mr. Karadzic's continued liberty.

Wesley Wark, professor of international relations at the University of Toronto and visiting professor at the University of Ottawa, said there was "probably some awareness in elements of the Serbian government" of Mr. Karadzic's whereabouts. "[But] it seems that the main reason Karadzic is now in detention is the change in political leadership and outlook on the part of the Serbian government under Tadic."

"At the end of the day, this was going to be a problem that the Serbs solved themselves," said Nigel Inkster, a former senior official with Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service who now works for the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "Ultimately, it did boil down to political will."

During his 13 years on the run, speculation about Mr. Karadzic's whereabouts was rife, with reports having him disguised as an Orthodox monk with a shaved head, hiding in the mountains bordering Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro. Others claimed he had fled to Russia, finding shelter among Russian nationalists who supported Bosnian Serbs during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia.

NATO and EU soldiers conducted dozens of raids -- the last as recently as March -- on the homes of Mr. Karadzic's wife and children in Pale, his wartime stronghold southeast of Sarajevo. They even searched the sewage tank, said his wife, Ljiljana. In April, 2004, U. S., British, German and Slovenian troops descended on Pale and raided a Serbian Orthodox church and a priest's home.

But authorities made it clear yesterday the wanted man had been in the Serb capital, a city of two million people, for much of the time.

Mr. Karadzic lived quietly in New Belgrade, a sprawling suburb of large anonymous apartment buildings. Last October he showed up at a wellness convention organized by Healthy Life magazine and introduced himself to the editor as a neuropsychiatrist who wanted to contribute articles. That part of his new identity was closest to his old self:Mr. Karadzic had studied in Sarajevo and qualified as a psychiatrist specializing in neurosis and depression.

"He was a kind man, with good manners, quiet and witty," said Goran Kojic, the magazine's editor. "He said he was a psychiatrist who does energy therapies. I told him we were not able to pay him and could only give him an issue of the magazine for free. He was not physically fit, but I would say he was mentally fit."

Mr. Karadzic did not have a Bosnian accent, he added.

"I asked where he was from and he said he was from the Krajina region [part of Croatia]," the editor said. "I think he told me he had children. I doubted he had a degree because he didn't specify where he was working. He never showed me his diploma, he said his wife left it in the United States."

As the soft-spoken Dr. Dabic, Mr. Karadzic lectured and wrote articles comparing popular meditation techniques with "Orthodox Meditation," a silent technique practised by Orthodox monks.

He was also interested in healing through the optimal use of "vital energy," a quasi-mystical, non-physical dimension of the body, similar to the Chinese notion of qi and the Indian concept of the chakra centres of energy in the body.

"He was very religious," said a woman who works at the magazine. "He had his hair in a plait in order to be able to receive different energies. He was a very nice man."

"I cannot believe it was him," Mr. Kojic said. "He was walking freely in the centre of the town. We talked a lot about family life. I am very sorry to find out that the man I knew is Radovan Karadzic, and that he was arrested. I feel miserable."

With the capture of Mr. Karadzic, the net is closing on the remaining fugitives, Gen. Mladic and Goran Hadzic, who is wanted for atrocities in eastern and central Croatia.

Prof. Wark expects they "will fall like kingpins now ... Karadzic was the Serbian government's toe in the water. They'll wait a few days and assess the fallout in Serbia and the responses globally, and then move on the others."

National Post, with files from

Mary Vallis, National Post, and news services

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BACK STORY

The capture of Radovan Karadzic leaves just two wanted war crimes suspects from the Balkans on the run from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.

AT LARGE

Ratko Mladic Commander of the Bosnian Serb forces and Mr. Karadzic's military leader. Directed Serb

siege of Sarajevo and was in charge as Serb soldiers overran eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995, after which up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were executed in Europe's worst post-war atrocity. Charged with genocide and crimes against humanity.

Goran Hadzic Warehouseman who rose to lead the self-declared "Serb Republic of the Krajina" region in eastern and central Croatia. Accused of leading campaign of "cleansing" the region of non-Serbs. Charged with crimes against humanity.

ON OR AWAITING TRIAL

Vojislav Seselj

Official chief of the Serbian Radicals, Serbia's most popular political party,

effectively led by Tomislav Nikolic. Round-faced and bespectacled, he appears the antithesis of flamboyant Serb warlords such as Zeljko Raznatovic (Arkan). Supporters formed paramilitary groups, including the Chetniks and the White Eagles, and are accused of atrocities in "cleansing" areas under their control of non-Serbs. Charged with crimes against humanity.

Ante Gotovina

Merchant seaman and former French legionnaire who led Croatian forces.

Most senior non-Serb to face the ICTY. Led campaign to retake Serb autonomous region of Krajina, and is accused of killing civilians. Charged with crimes against humanity.

Stojan Zupljanin

Police chief who led Serb forces in north and western Bosnia. While he is accused of overseeing ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs from the region, his notoriety stems from the network of prison camps where thousands were allegedly tortured and murdered. Captured five weeks ago in Belgrade. Charged with crimes against humanity.

JAILED

Radislav Krstic Senior officer with Mr. Mladic at Srebrenica and first man to be convicted of genocide by the

ICTY. Initially sentenced to 46 years, reduced to 35 on appeal.

Goran Jelesic Guard at the Bosnian Serb Camp Luka, convicted of being a modern-day Ivan the Terrible, subjecting inmates to beatings and summary execution. Snatched by U. S. Navy Seals in 1998. Sentenced to 40 years.

FREED

Naser Oric

One of the few Bosnian Muslims to have been indicted by the ICTY. Commanded forces around Srebrenica. Initially sentenced to two years over the deaths of five Serb prisoners. Cleared on all charges on appeal this month.

Ramush Haradinaj

Commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, went on to become

Kosovo's prime minister before surrendering to The Hague. Cleared of failing to stop civilian deaths. Prosecutors have appealed.

DIED

Slobodan Milosevic The highest-profile detainee at The Hague. Former Serb president was arrested and handed over to authorities in 2001, charged with crimes against humanity and genocide for unleashing violent Serb nationalism across the Balkans. His epic trial was in its fifth year when Mr. Milosevic suffered a fatal heart attack in 2006.

Credit: Araminta Wordsworth; The Daily Telegraph