Ratko Mladic Removed From War Crimes Hearing

Former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic has been removed from the UN war crimes court after disrupting the hearing with constant interruptions.

His brief appearance at the tribunal in The Hague came despite earlier rumours of plans to boycott it because his own defence lawyers had not been appointed.

But during the hearing Mladic became angry and told the judges they were not "allowing me to breathe".

Judge Alphons Orie adjourned the hearing, saying: "The court warns you that you would be removed from the courtroom. Security, please escort Mr Mladic from the courtroom."

Mladic replied: "Mr Orie, you can do whatever you want, without (my lawyers), there's no need for me to receive anything or say anything, you can do whatever you want."

The hearing resumed a few minutes later and, in Mladic's absence, the court entered a plea of not guilty to charges connected with some of the worst atrocities committed in Europe since World War Two.

Earlier, as the hearing started, Judge Orie told the 69-year-old former general to stop making contact with members of the public.

"On June 3, the chamber noticed that there was some undesirable silent communication between you and the public gallery.

"It seemed that this communication was initiated from both sides... the chamber will not allow this to happen again," he said.

Arrested in May and extradited to The Hague after 16 years on the run, Mladic defiantly rejected war crimes charges against him as "obnoxious" and "monstrous" when he was formally charged at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia last month.

He is accused over the 43-month siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo and the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica.

Mladic, who has said he is a "gravely ill" man, is no longer in the prison hospital and now plays chess with other detainees.

He argued last month that he was only defending his country and people.