Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, caught a week ago after more than a decade on the run, arrived Wednesday in The Hague to be tried for some of Europe's bloodiest atrocities since World War II.
"Radovan Karadzic was today transferred in to the Tribunal's custody, after having been at large for more than 13 years," said the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in a statement.
"Karadzic, who was arrested in Serbia on 21 July 2008, has been admitted in the UN Detention Unit in the Hague."
Karadzic, who faces a trial for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, arrived at Rotterdam airport about 25 kilometres (15 miles away) shortly before 6:30 (0430 GMT).
He had arrived on a special flight from Belgrade, where he was arrested on July 21.
A motorcade entered the gates of the UN detention unit in The Hague, followed a short while later by two blue police helicopters, one of which landed inside the prison grounds.
The plane touched down just before 6:30 am (0430 GMT).
Karadzic faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for his leading role in the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre, during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war.
Serbia's justice ministry confirmed it had authorised Karadzic's transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague "on the basis of Serbia's law on cooperation with the tribunal".
"The decision was preceded by the decision of the District Court in Belgrade that all conditions have been met for the turnover of Radovan Karadzic to the ICTY," it added in a statement.
"The ministry sent its decision to the authorised agencies for its further execution."
Karadzic, 63, was arrested in Belgrade on July 21, after more than a decade on the run disguised as a bearded, long haired alternative medicine guru who specialised in "human quantum energy."
His clever disguise as Doctor Dragan Dabic stunned many. Serbian media said dozens of secret service agents had tracked Karadzic for months before his detention.
"I am proud how he has been hiding all these years and I am appalled how he was thrown in the jaws of the beast," said 55-year-old Karadzic's supporter, writer Momir Vasiljevic.
A close Karadzic ally, Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic, is still on the run. Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, another key figure in the Balkan wars of the 1990s, died while being tried by the ICTY.
Karadzic's transfer came only hours after Serbian riot police clashed with youths in central Belgrade at the end of an ultra-nationalist rally by more than 15,000 people opposed to the arrest of Karadzic, who remains an iconic figure among Serbian hardliners .
At least 25 police and 19 civilians, including a Spanish and a Serbian journalist, were injured in the clashes, hospital officials said.
Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the apparently drunken youths into streets surrounding the Serbian capital's main Republican Square.
Police set up cordons in the central district after the youths were cleared to allow the transfer to go ahead.
The violence erupted as ultranationalist Radical Party leader Tomislav Nikolic addressed the crowd. He had called for calm so that protestors could stage a "peaceful march" in Belgrade.
"Do not do it, children, we did not gather for that, we do not want to destroy Belgrade, but (President) Boris Tadic," Nikolic said.
Karadzic had been fighting a legal battle against his transfer to the UN tribunal in The Hague.
His entourage claimed he had sent an appeal against his transfer at the last minute on Friday, but the Serbian war crimes court denied that it had arrived on time.
According to the law, a three-judge panel of the court had three days upon receiving the appeal to decide on its merits before the justice ministry issued a final transfer order.
Dusan Ignjatovic, head of the Serbian government office for cooperation with the UN tribunal, expressed doubts about the appeal, which Karadzic's brother Luka has said was sent by regular mail.
The wartime Bosnian Serb leader has been indicted on playing a leading role in the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys.
The 43-month siege of Sarajevo claimed more than 10,000 lives.
Karadzic vanished from public view in 1996, the year after the ICTY indicted him for genocide and crimes against humanity.
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