Fugitive former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was arrested on July 21 2008, the office of Serbian president Boris Tadic said in a statement.

Serbian security forces arrested Karadzic, who was charged by the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1992/95 war in Bosnia, and he was brought before a special court in Belgrade set up as part of a co-operation deal between Serbia and the UN war crimes tribunal, according to the statement by the Serbian president.

Karadzic appeared in front of investigative judge in the Serbian war crimes court, "in line with the law on cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia," the statement of the Serbian presidency said. He was due to be questioned overnight, Serbian broadcaster B92 said, with extradition to the ICTY expected shortly.

Serbian news agency Beta quoted "reliable sources" as saying that the former president of the Republic of Srpska was arrested in Belgrade.

Karadzic, now 63, was last seen in public in 1996. His arrest, along with that of other top figures involved in war crimes during the war in Bosnia, including the army chief of staff Ratko Mladic, has been a key condition for Belgrade to meet before its European integration hopes can go ahead.

The war in Bosnia cost an estimated 250 000 to 300 000 lives, with 1.8 million people displaced. Among the war crimes for which Karadzic has been indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal is the 1995 massacre at Srebenica.

The arrest comes less than two weeks after a pro-Western government, spearheaded by Tadic's Democratic Party, took office in Belgrade.

The BBC reported on July 22 that Karadzic's arrest was welcomed by war crimes prosecutors in The Hague as a "milestone". Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the ICTY, welcomed the arrest.

"I was informed by our colleagues in Belgrade about the successful operation which resulted in the arrest of Radovan Karadzic," Brammertz said in a statement in The Hague. 

"On behalf of the Office of the Prosecutor, I would like to congratulate the Serbian authorities, especially the National Security Council, Serbia's Action Team in charge of tracking fugitives and the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor, on achieving this milestone in co-operation with the ICTY." 

"This is a very important day for the victims who have waited for this arrest for over a decade. It is also an important day for international justice because it clearly demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law and that sooner or later all fugitives will be brought to justice."

The arrest was also hailed by diplomats in the EU and the US, as well as the United Nations. UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon called it "a historic moment for the victims, who have waited thirteen years for Mr. Karadzic to be brought to justice."

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said: "This is excellent news. The place where Radovan Karadzic belongs is in front of the tribunal in The Hague, having a fair trial and responding to the crimes of which he is accused. It shows the commitment of the new Serbian government to cooperate with international organisations."

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso described it as "very positive development that will contribute to bringing justice and lasting reconciliation in the Western Balkans" and "very important for Serbia's European aspirations".

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn echoed Barroso's words, saying that it was "certainly a milestone in Serbia's cooperation with the international criminal tribunal on the former Yugoslavia. It proves the determination of the new government to achieve full cooperation with the tribunal."

Rehn and European Union foreign ministers would meet with Serbia's foreign minister Vuk Jeremic in Brussels on July 22 to discuss closer ties with Serbia in light of the arrest, the International Herald Tribune reported.

In Washington, where president George W Bush was meeting Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu and prime minister Hashim Thaci, a statement by the White House congratulated Belgrade. "The timing of the arrest, only days after the commemoration of the massacre of over 7000 Bosnians committed in Srebrenica, is particularly appropriate, as there is no better tribute to the victims of the war's atrocities than bringing their perpetrators to justice," the statement read.

In an interview with CNN on July 22 2008, former US ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke who played a key role in negotiating an end to the war in Bosnia – but who during that process refused to shake Karadzic’s hand – said that he held Karadzic responsible for all 300 000 deaths in the war.

Holbrooke said that it was an “historic day” and it was to the credit of the Serbian government that they had arrested Karadzic. He called for Karadzic to be sent to the ICTY in The Hague for trial.

On the effect of the arrest for the region, Holbrooke said that Karadzic had been like a “Robin Hood to Bosnian Serbs” and his arrest would help to create stability in the region.

However, back in Serbia, there there are still many people who see Karadzic as a national hero defended Serbs during the break-up of Yugoslavia. "Karadzic is a Serbian hero. There will be a strong backlash," the secretary general of the nationalist Serbian Radical Party said, as quoted by Reuters. The party won the second most seats in parliament at the elections in May.

Protesters have gathered both in the Republic Square and in front of the courthouse where Karadzic appeared in front of a judge on July 21. According to B92, several men, wearing the insignia of the ultra-nationalist Obraz movement and chanting Karadzic's name, were arrested by the police.

Apart from the murder of more than 7500 Muslim men and boys at Srebenica, Karadzic was also charged over the shelling of Sarajevo, and the use of 284 UN peacekeepers as human shields in May and June 1995. The BBC said Karadzic had denied the charges against him soon after the first indictment and refused to recognise the legitimacy of the UN tribunal.

Born in Montenegro in 1945, Karadzic graduated as a doctor and was a psychologist before getting involved in nationalist politics. In 1990, he co-founded the Serbian Democratic Party as an anti-Croat and anti-Muslim force and in 1992 was instrumental in setting up the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina with himself as head of state.