Copyright CanWest Interactive, Inc. Jul 22, 2008

Note: Profile of Karadzic, A11

BELGRADE - Serbia said yesterday its security forces had captured Radovan Karadzic, the wartime Bosnian Serb leader and one of the world's most wanted men, after nearly 13 years on the run from the UN war crimes tribunal on charges of genocide.

"Radovan Karadzic was located and arrested tonight" by Serbian security officers, said a statement from the office of Serbian President Boris Tadic.

"Karadzic was brought to the investigative judge of the War Crimes Court in Belgrade, in accordance with the law on co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)."

The Serbian presidency and war crimes prosecution refused to elaborate on the statement, which did not disclose any further information about the time and place of Mr. Karadzic's arrest.

However, a war crimes official who requested anonymity said the 63-year-old had offered "no resistance" when he was arrested on Serbian territory, and appeared to have been in a "depressive mood."

Serbian government officials said he was arrested not far from Belgrade.

Mr. Karadzic is said to have eluded arrest so long by shaving his signature mane of wild grey hair and disguising himself in a brown cassock. His reported hideouts included refurbished caves in the mountains of eastern Bosnia and Serbian orthodox monasteries. Stories circulated around Serbia that he had disguised himself as a priest.

The capture of Mr. Karadzic comes two weeks after Serbia got a new pro-European government dominated by Mr. Tadic's Democratic Party, with the support of the reformed Socialists of the late president Slobodan Milosevic.

Along with his former military commander Ratko Mladic, Mr. Karadzic had evaded the ICTY since 1995, when they were charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war. General Mladic is still at large.

Serge Brammertz, the chief prosecutor of the ICTY, welcomed the arrest.

The capture came a day before Mr. Brammertz visits Belgrade, whose co-operation with the UN court is the chief condition for Serbian member-ship in the European Union.

"I was informed by our colleagues in Belgrade about the successful operation, which resulted in the arrest of Radovan Karadzic," the prosecutor said in a statement from The Hague, the seat of the UN tribunal. "This is a very important day for the victims who have waited for this arrest for over a decade," Mr. Brammertz said.

"It is also an important day for international justice because it clearly demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law and that sooner or later all fugitives will be brought to justice," he added.

In the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, people gathered on the streets to celebrate the arrest of Mr. Karadzic, whose indictment on two counts of genocide stems in part from the deaths of some 12,000 of their fellow citizens in a 43-month siege of the city from April, 1992, to February, 1996.

"This is the best thing that could ever happen you see people celebrating everywhere," said Sarajevo resident Fadil Bico. "I called and woke up my whole family."

Cars streamed through the streets tooting their horns, while Bosnian state radio was playing excerpts of Mr. Karadzic's speeches during the 1992-95 war, when he led the superior firepower of Bosnian Serbs, backed by Belgrade, against Bosnian Muslims and Croats.

Mr. Karadzic is also charged with genocide over the massacre of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in July, 1995, the worst atrocity on European soil since the Second World War.

Richard Holbrooke, former U. S. assistant secretary of state for Europe who negotiated the 1995 Dayton accords that ended the war in Bosnia, welcomed his capture, describing him as the Osama bin Laden of Europe, "a real, true architect of mass murder."

"It's a tremendous step forward for Serbia's desire to join the West," Mr. Holbrooke said. "Of course Gen. Mladic is still out there, but Karadzic is the most important of the two."

Olli Rehn, the European Union's enlargement commissioner, called the arrest a "milestone" in Serbia's efforts to join the bloc. "It proves the determination of the new government to achieve full co-operation with the tribunal," he said.

A White House statement also congratulated the Serbian government and noted the poignant timing of its achievement.

"The timing of the arrest, only days after the commemoration of the massacre of over 7,000 Bosnians committed in Srebrenica, is particularly appropriate, as there is no better tribute to the victims of the war's atrocities than bringing their perpetrators to justice."

The West had long suspected Belgrade of failing to press the search, but the new government had signalled it wanted to comply. Sources close to the government said Mr. Karadzic was arrested in Belgrade. He was undergoing a formal ID process, including DNA testing, and would be meeting with investigators overnight.