Karadzic, who has not appointed a lawyer, says he has not had enough time to prepare his defence [AFP]

Karadzic, who had previously boycotted the proceedings which began last week in The Hague, attended the court to argue for more time to prepare his defence.

The defendant, who has not appointed a lawyer, says he has not had enough time to prepare his defence even though he was indicted in 1995 and has been in custody for 14 months.

He said: "I do not want to boycott these proceedings, but I cannot take part in something that has been bad from the start and where my fundamental rights have been violated."

'Not prepared'

Karadzic said prosecutors have loaded him down with 1.3 million pages of evidence and that he only has been able to work on his defence since May, when he got all the evidence from prosecutors.

"The situation is such that I would really be a criminal if I were to accept these conditions, to enter a trial for which I am not prepared," he said on Tuesday.

But O-Gon Kwon, the presiding judge, said Karadzic was repeating claims he has made in pretrial hearings and in motions that have been rejected by trial and appeal judges.

He signalled the court is unlikely to grant him any more time.

"At the end of the day, I again remind you that it is in your best interest to attend and participate fully in the trial so that justice can be done,'' Kwon said.

Prosecution request

Karadzic is facing 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection to the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

He has repeatedly refused to enter pleas, but insists he is innocent.

Hildegard Uertz-Retzlaff, the prosecutors, urged the court on Tuesday to impose a court-appointed lawyer on Karadzic so that the case can continue even if he continues his boycott.

"Mr Karadzic cannot be allowed to manipulate the proceedings through his decision to not attend hearings," she said.

Kwon has previosuly said that the court would consider imposing a lawyer to represent Karadzic if he continues to boycott the proceedings.

Karadzic had pledged in a letter earlier this week that he would attend the procedural hearing on Tuesday aimed at finding a way to proceed with the trial without his presence in court.

"I hope we will be able to find a solution which will lead not only to an expeditious trial, but a fair one," he said in the letter released on Monday.

Genocide charges

Karadzic faces genocide charges over the Sarajevo siege and the massacre of Muslim men and boys at the UN-protected enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995, in which about 8,000 people died.

His trial is expected to last for up to two years and he faces a maximum sentence of life in jail if convicted.

Karadzic was arrested in Belgrade last July after 13 years on the run.

He had been posing as a New Age healer named Dr Dragan Dabic, and had disguised himself with thick glasses, a bushy beard and straggly grey hair.

Prosecutors had wanted to try Karadzic alongside his wartime military chief, General Ratko Mladic, but he has yet to be caught.

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