Karadzic supporters clash with police in Belgrade

By Ivana Sekularac

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Police fired tear gas to break up scuffles with youths during a demonstration by hardline Serbian nationalists in support of war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic on Tuesday.

Karadzic's legal team meanwhile worked on its campaign to block the former Bosnian Serb leader's extradition to an international tribunal to answer charges of genocide for his actions in the 1992-95 Bosnia war.

He was arrested last week in Serbia after 11 years on the run, most recently living under an assumed name as a bearded, long-haired alternative healer.

He is now in a Belgrade prison awaiting transfer to the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Hardliners see him as a hero and defender of the Serb nation.

Some 10,000 people, many bussed in from rural nationalist strongholds, gathered in downtown Belgrade for an evening rally to show their support for him.

Clashes broke out when several dozen youths linked to hooligan groups threw flares, stones and garbage cans at riot police. Security forces responded with baton charges and rounds of tear gas.

Serbian media said about 45 people were treated for light injuries in Belgrade hospitals, 25 of them policemen. One Spanish and one Serb journalist were also hurt.

"I came here to protest against Karadzic's extradition," said 60-year-old Slobodanka Sanojevic, speaking before the unrest. "He is a great man, he created a state for Serbs (in Bosnia) and saved Serbian children from genocide."

Karadzic, with his military chief Ratko Mladic, is indicted for the massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo, where more than 11,000 people died from shelling, sniper fire, malnutrition and illness.

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

UNOBTRUSIVE TRANSFER

Belgrade is now keen to send him to The Hague as soon as possible to defuse increasing tension and further protests by nationalists, but also to unlock EU trade benefits.

The EU postponed a decision on the trade deal on Tuesday, with diplomats saying they would wait for Karadzic's transfer.

The government is ready to approve his extradition but the timing of the transfer partly depends on an appeal filed by Karadzic's lawyer last week.

Serbian officials say the appeal is a gesture with no chance of success but it nevertheless frustrates an extradition process burdened by unclear deadlines and tussles over legal detail.