A picture of a clean-shaven Radovan Karadzic on one of Serbia's newspapers [AFP]

Karadzic will be asked to enter a plea on charges that include genocide and crimes against humanity later on Thursday.

He is due in court at 1400GMT after spending his first night in jail at the UN war crimes tribunal detention centre in The Hague.

Karadzic, who led a breakaway Serb Republic during the Bosnian War, faces two charges of genocide over the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War Two.

Shorn of beard

Since his arrest in Belgrade he has been shorn of the beard and the long hair that helped disguise him as an alternative healer in the years following the war.

He was flown to the Netherlands on Wednesday morning.

Similar to Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian president, Karadzic has suggested he wishes to defend himself, a move which could protract the proceedings.

Serge Brammertz, the chief prosecutor, said he would conduct the trial efficiently, learning from the Milosevic case.

"Of course it will take some months before the prosecution and defence will be ready to start. It will be a complex trial but we are fully aware of the importance of being efficient," he told reporters on Wednesday.

Brammertz called the arrest a "major achievement".

During proceedings before Judge Alphons Orie, he will be asked to enter a plea to the charges against him after the indictment or a summary of the indictment is read.

Karadzic's lawyer in Belgrade has said the 63-year-old believes he will be cleared of genocide.

Earlier this week relatives said Karadzic was in good spirits and preparing his defence.

Karadzic's delivery to The Hague was key to Serbia securing closer ties with the European Union and his arrest was seen as a pro-Western signal by the new government sworn in this month.

France, which holds the EU presidency, said in a statement that Karadzic's arrest and transfer "mark an important step in the process of reconciliation in the western Balkans and in the rapprochement between Serbia and Europe".

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