Europe News

Serb nationalists clash with police after Karadzic arrest

Jul 22, 2008, 18:23 GMT

Belgrade - Serb nationalists protesting the arrest of Bosnian war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic trashed businesses and clashed with police Tuesday in downtown Belgrade, news reports said.

After several hundred demonstrators gathered at Republic Square, a group of about 50 broke chairs and windows in several bars and attacked police. They fled when riot police appeared.

Three young men were arrested, Serb media said. No injuries were reported.

The protesters, who sang patriotic songs and wore shirts with Karadzic's face, began dispersing after a speech by the secretary- general of the ultranationalist Radical Party, Aleksandar Vucic.

Vucic said the Radicals would organize large protests in the next few days.

'I hope we'll organize large, massive protests and that we will show that we didn't kill Serbia,' he said.

The Radicals were the only one Serb party not to welcome Karadzic's arrest, which they compared to killing Serbia. Serbian authorities and European Union governments welcomed the arrest as a step toward the EU.

Karadzic, indicted on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, was arrested Monday night in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, after 12 years on the run.