No Karadzic transfer before 30th

BELGRADE (AFP) - Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic is unlikely to be transferred to The Hague to face war crimes charges until Wednesday or Thursday at the earliest, his lawyer says.

In an interview with the daily Vecernje Novosti, lawyer Svetozar Vujacic continued to refuse to give details of the appeal he lodged against the transfer at the last possible minute before the expiry of a deadline at midnight Friday.

"I can't tell you what is written in the appeal, or when or from which post office it was sent," he was quoted as saying by Vecernje Novosti on Sunday.

"If I told you, the appeal would arrive at the court very quickly and Radovan Karadzic would already be on his way to The Hague."

Once the appeal has been received, a three-judge panel of Serbia's war crimes court will have three days to decide on its merits before the Justice Ministry must issue a final order for the transfer.

Former Serb prime minister Vojislav Kostunica on Sunday criticised the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), saying it did not guarantee justice.

"You can't ask Serbia to send Serbs to The Hague while the tribunal is declaring innocent those who have undoubtedly committed warcrimes against the Serbs," Kostunica was quoted as telling the Glas daily.

Kostunica was referring to a decision this month by the UN tribunal to clear the former commander of Bosnian Muslim forces in Srebrenica, Naser Oric, of war crimes against Serbs.

Karadzic, 63, indicted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, was arrested Monday while riding on a suburban bus in Belgrade.

The Serbian secret service had been on his trail for six weeks after receiving a telephone tip-off, the Blic daily newspaper reported Sunday, citing a source close to the inquiry.

The caller, who refused to give his identity, told the authorities about a doctor practising alternative medicine who travelled across Serbia giving conferences on health.