US man denies Karadzic deal

A former US negotiator who helped end the Bosnian war has denied that he offered Radovan Karadzic impunity from arrest, a claim made by the former leader of the Bosnian Serbs as he appeared before a UN war trimes tribunal for the first time yesterday. Richard Holbrooke said Karadzic's assertion that he had agreed with the US to withdraw entirely from public life and go into hiding was "a completely false statement".

Karadzic appeared in the courtroom in The Hague yesterday shorn of the large beard and long hair he grew as a disguise during 12 years in hiding, pale and thinner than in his time as the man allegedly responsible for the worst act of genocide in Europe since World War Two. He told the judge, Alphons Orie that he would defend himself.

Explaining to the Mr Orie why he had not appeared in court sooner, he said: "I was in danger of being liquidated because I had made a commitment... My commitment was to withdraw... even from literary life and all sorts of public life."

An adviser to the previous UN court prosecutor Carla del Ponte said earlier this week that Karadzic's accusation has been made widely against Mr Holbrooke before. Florence Hartmann said: "Nato soldiers did not arrest him. He passed in front of their eyes to go from his office to his villa."