Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic had been living in Belgrade for the last 11 years under a false identity, Serbian prosecutor-general Vladimir Vukevic told a press conference

The alleged war crimes architect’s arrest was revealed on Monday and a Serbian judge ordered Karadzic to be transferred to The Hague’s International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia. This is expected to happen in the coming days, although his lawyer, Svetozar Vujacic, has appealed the extradition warrant.

The appeal should not delay the transfer. “According to Hague prosecutors, this is nothing more than the ordinary”, GRN correspondent Simon Jennings told FRANCE 24 from The Hague.

“Karadzic had false documents under the name of Dragan Dabic and he seemed very convincing in his dissimulation,” said Vukevic. “He was making a living in alternative medicine and worked in a private clinic. His last known address is Novi Belgrade,” a neighbourhood on the left bank of Sava.

Rasim Ljajic, the Serbian minister in charge of working with the International Penal Tribunal, showed the press a photo of Karadzic with a vastly changed appearance (see our slideshow on the right).

“He happily, freely walked around the city”, Vladimir Vukcevic said. “Even his landlords were unaware of his identity. ”

Joy in Sarajevo

The international community welcomed almost unanimously the news of Karadzic's arrest Monday night. The former Serbian leader is indicted of genocide and has been on the run for 13 years.

“Radovan Karadzic was located and arrested,” Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Monday night. His statement  was greeted with joy on the streets of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. “Nobody was able to sleep last night! We couldn’t believe it!” Ermina Redzovic, a Sarajevo-based journalist, told FRANCE 24.

Karadzic was indicted in 1995 on charges of war crimes and genocide for his role in the slaughter of some 8,000 Muslim men in the town of Srebrenica – the worst massacre in Europe since WWII. Former Serbian General Ratko Mladic has yet to be arrested.

Karadzic spent 13 years on the run until the Serbian Secret Services captured him on Monday. According to Serbian government sources, a tip-off from foreign intelligence services triggered the arrest. Karadzic's lawyer, however, contended that his client was arrested on a Belgrade bus on Friday and held in secret for three days.

Olga Kavran, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, told FRANCE 24 that Karadzic's arrest “meant that nobody is above the law.”