Bosnian Serb leader surrenders to court

Biljana Plavsic became Bosnian Serb president in 1996

A key Bosnian Serb wartime leader has turned herself in to the United Nations tribunal to face war crimes charges.

Biljana Plavsic, a hardline nationalist politician during the Bosnian war, is accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

She was a key aide to former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, the tribunal's most wanted Bosnian suspect.

She will be the highest ranking Bosnian Serb official and the first woman to face charges at the tribunal.

Mrs Plavsic, 70, had travelled voluntarily to the International War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague in the Netherlands on Tuesday.

Sealed indictment

Mrs Plavsic was a key ally of war-leader Radovan Karadzic

She surrendered to the court on Wednesday morning, after being told there was a sealed indictment against her, chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said.

Mrs Plavsic's defence lawyer said the former Bosnian Serb president had decided to hand herself in "because she believes she is innocent".

Krstan Simic told SRNA news agency that Mrs Plavsic believed the tribunal was the only place where she could defend herself.

Mrs Plavsic will make an initial court appearance on Thursday to enter a plea.

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on Tuesday that she understood Mrs Plavsic intended to co-operate with the tribunal.

Strong nationalist

Mrs Plavsic held a top position in the Bosnian Serb leadership during the 1992-1995 war - in which Bosnian Serb forces kept the capital, Sarajevo, under siege and killed and expelled tens of thousands of Muslims and Croats.

In 1992, a widely-published photograph showed her stepping over the body of a dead Muslim civilian to kiss the late Serb warlord Zeljko Raznjatovic, known as Arkan.

She was elected president of the Bosnian Serbs in 1996, but was defeated at polls two years later.

In 1997, she attracted Western support after publicly criticising Bosnian Serb hardliners, alleging widespread corruption.

However, she remained a strong nationalist, and spoke out against the arrests of alleged war criminals by the Nato-led Stabilisation Force in Bosnia.

Since it was established in 1993, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has sentenced 14 Bosnian Serb, Croat and Muslim suspects to up to 45 years in prison.