Mladic due back in Belgrade court

EU’s most wanted war crimes fugitive was arrested on Thursday in a northern Serbian village after 16 years on the run. The Bosnian Serb wartime army commander is facing international war crimes charges, including the slaughter of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica during Bosnia’s 1992—95 war.

Thursday’s extradition hearing was adjourned due to what Mladic’s lawyer claimed was his poor health.

Serbian war crimes prosecutors claim the health issue appears to be Mladic’s tactic to delay his extradition to the U.N. tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands.

“What’s important is that his identity has been established,” said deputy war crimes prosecutor Bruno Vekaric. “It now depends on his defense whether they will launch appeals, but a maximum deadline for his extradition is a week.”

Meanwhile, a photo portrait of Mladic during his arrest in the village of Lazarevo, 60 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Belgrade, was obtained by The Associated Press. It shows him looking much older than in 2002 when he was last seen in Belgrade.

Mladic is alleged to have led the forces that attacked the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, a UN-declared safe area, in the summer of 1995. In early July that year, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were executed by Serbian forces, and the town's women and children were driven out of the area. Mladic has been on the run since 1995, when he was indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

The arrest of Mladic, the most-wanted man in Europe for the alleged massacre of thousands of Muslim men and boys, was announced Thursday by Serbian President Boris Tadic.

The extradition process began that day, but Mladic's lawyer said the judge cut short the questioning because the suspect's "poor physical state" left him unable to communicate.

The BBC has reported that doctors are assessing whether Mladic is well enough to attend his scheduled hearing.

Serbian war crimes prosecutors said the health issue is only a delaying tactic.

What's important is that his identity has been established," said deputy war crimes prosecutor Bruno Vekaric. "It now depends on his defense whether they will launch appeals, but a maximum deadline for his extradition is a week.