Radovan Karadzic challenged the legality of his pending genocide trial Wednesday, urging a UN war crimes court to order evidence from former US diplomat Richard Holbrooke about a deal he claims would have shielded him from trial.
   
In an updated submission to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the Bosnian Serb wartime leader claims the very existence of such an agreement invalidated his prosecution.
   
"I wish to challenge the legality of the proceedings in their entirety ...," reads the document provided by the tribunal, into whose custody Karadzic was transferred last Wednesday.
   
"So that we may ascertain whether this case is legally tenable, I propose that you ... order that Richard Holbrooke appear before you and declare under oath whether or not there was such an agreement and whether the USA complied with its obligations from that agreement."
   
Karadzic repeated his allegation that the United States wanted him dead after reneging on a deal to shield him from trial by the ICTY.
   
He said Holbrooke, the US peace negotiator in Bosnia, had promised he would shield Karadzic from the tribunal in return from disappearing from the public eye. Holbrooke has insisted that no such deal existed.