Karadzic to be smuggled to the Hague

BELGRADE (Reuters) - The transfer of Radovan Karadzic to the war crimes tribunal in the Hague will be carried out covertly to avoid media attention and planned protests by nationalist supporters of the former Bosnian Serb leader.

Karadzic, who faces charges of genocide during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, was arrested last week in Serbia after 11 years on the run. He is now being held in a Belgrade prison awaiting extradition.

Security service sources say there are dozens of options for moving him unobtrusively, involving disguised vehicles, secret exits, dawn transfers and decoy motorcades to fool the television crews staking out the prison, court and airport.

"Only 10 people in Serbia know exactly what will happen," one senior government source told Reuters. Another said it would not be a public spectacle. "It will be done as discreetly as possible."

Karadzic has been indicted for planning the massacre of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo, where more than 11,000 people died from shelling, sniper fire, malnutrition and illness.

Little is known about his early years in hiding. Reports, never confirmed, spoke of Orthodox priest disguises and remote monastery hideouts, a secret life under the protection of hardline nationalists in the army and police.

For the past several years he had been living under an assumed name in the Serbian capital, posing as an alternative healer and hiding his famous face behind long hair, thick glasses and a beard.

MASS PROTEST PLANNED

Many nationalists see him as a hero attacked by anti-Serb propaganda, and have planned a mass protest for Tuesday against his extradition and trial.

The country's new pro-Western government, sworn in earlier this month, is keen to get him to The Hague as soon as possible to avoid tension and protracted protests. But the timing partly depends on an appeal filed by Karadzic's lawyer.

"We have not received the appeal with today's post, and it is almost certain that it will not arrive today," said Ivana Ramic, spokeswoman for the Belgrade district court.

"The deadline for the appeal has not been specified. It is at the discretion of the court how long it will wait."

Serbian officials say the appeal is a gesture with no chance of success and could only delay, not stop, the process.

Karadzic's arrest and delivery to The Hague are key to Serbia's closer ties with the European Union. Sources in the government say that once received, the appeal would be rejected and an extradition order issued very quickly.

Karadzic's lawyer, Svetozar Vujacic, said Serbian authorities would try to send his client to the Hague before the rally on Tuesday afternoon.

"The government is doing all it can to extradite him to The Hague before the rally," Vujacic said. "Radovan's and my goal is that this does not happen." But Vujacic conceded there was no way the extradition could be put off for long.

Karadzic's brother Luka was seen entering the detention unit with two suits, one light, one dark.

"He needs them for The Hague," Vujacic said. "He will without doubt go to The Hague, the only question is when."

(Additional reporting by Ivana Sekularac; editing by Robert Hart)