Mladic Appeals For Calm Ahead Of Protest

Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic has called for calm over his arrest, saying he does not want to be a "cause of unrest" ahead of a far-right rally in Belgrade.

His lawyer Milos Saljic said: "He is appealing to people to calm down, there should be no bloodshed, he does not want to be a cause of unrest."

He added that Mladic was "aware he would be sent" to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

The appeal came before a planned rally by the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, which has called on its supporters to stage a Sunday evening protest against Mladic's arrest.

"He appeals for there to be no riots, for everything to be peaceful," Mr Saljic said.

A Belgrade court has ruled that the former Serbian general is fit to stand trial and could be extradited to a UN court to face charges of genocide.

The extradition proceedings in Serbia are under way ahead of Mladic possibly standing trial in The Hague, Netherlands.

"The defence lawyer has until Monday to appeal the decision on behalf of Ratko Mladic," Sky News foreign editor Tim Marshall, reporting from Belgrade, said.

The announcement comes after questions were raised on Friday about the alleged poor health of Europe's most wanted man.

Mladic, 69, is accused of masterminding appalling acts of violence against Muslims during the Bosnian conflict of the early 1990s. He was arrested on Thursday after a 16-year manhunt.

But his first appearance before a Serbian court was initially cut short after his lawyer said he was unable to communicate.

"The investigative judge tried to question Ratko Mladic but he failed because he (Mladic) is in a difficult psychological and physical condition," his lawyer, Mr Saljic said.

Mr Saljic argued that Mladic needs medical care and "should not be moved in such a state".

The extradition process is expected to take less than two weeks.

"I spoke earlier to his son Darko," Marshall said.

"My understanding is that Mladic has very high blood pressure and the family wants independent medical experts to examine the ex-general."

Darko Mladic said his family believed he should not be extradited to face genocide charges because of his poor health.

He said: "We are almost certain he cannot be extradited in such condition.

"He is in very bad shape. His right arm is half paralysed. His right side is partly numb."

Serbian police officials have reportedly said Mladic was captured in a routine raid after he headed out to his garden for a pre-dawn walk.

The officials said they had no specific intelligence indicating Mladic was in the village of Lazarevo, 50 miles north of the Serbian capital Belgrade, when he was captured on Thursday.

Mladic was indicted for war crimes in 1995 and is accused of being behind the massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995.

He is also thought to be behind the 44-month siege of Sarajevo that left 10,000 people dead in the same year.

Judge Fouad Riad of the UN tribunal said there was evidence against Mladic of "unimaginable savagery".

One Serbian source told Sky News: "It is as if a heavy weight and burden has fallen off our shoulders."

The former general was reportedly using the assumed name Milorad Komodic - an anagram of his true identity - when arrested.

Serbian interior minister Ivica Dacic said Mladic had been armed with two guns "but he did not have the time to use them".

The international community has welcomed the news , with Prime Minister David Cameron saying: "We should remember why the international community has been pursuing this man.

"He is accused of the most appalling crimes in both Srebrenica and Sarajevo."

The Bosnian-Serb wartime political leader Radovan Karadzic, Mladic's mentor, was "sorry for General Mladic's loss of freedom", his lawyer said.

Karadzic was captured in July 2008 and is himself fighting charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in The Hague.

Sky's Marshall said: "Mladic has appeared in the same court and in front of the same judge who allowed extradition of Karadzic to The Hague."

The women of the Sarajevo-based Mothers of Srebrenica association said Mladic's shrunken appearance following his arrest was deceptive.

"He might have aged and lost weight but the bloodthirsty look in his eyes is the same as the one he had in Srebrenica in 1995," Sabra Kolenovic, who lost her husband and son, said.

"He should be crossed out from the list of human beings."

Bosnians remain deeply divided over the arrest of Mladic, with ethnic Serbs calling him honourable and Muslims saying he deserves the heaviest possible sentence.