General Krstic, who is charged with genocide in connection with the fall of the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica in 1995, was detained on Wednesday by NATO-led peace-keeping forces in the north of the Bosnian Serb Republic.

The Bosnian Mulsims have welcomed the arrest, but the Bosnian Serb president, Nikola Poplasen, accused the NATO-led Stabilisation Force of "highway robbery".

Women were allowed to go, their menfolk disappeared

He said his government was cutting links with the force to a minimum.

General Krstic was arrested on a secret indictment, which prevents suspects from finding out about their impending arrest.

Jacky Rowland reports from Sarajevo

Srebrenica was overrun by Bosnian Serb militia in 1995 and as many as 8,000 Muslim men are believed to have been killed.

The general is indicted as the Commander of the Drina Corps of the Bosnian Serb Army which led the campaign from July to November.

Crimes against humanity

He faces five other charges brought both in respect of his personal involvement in the alleged crimes, and in respect of his responsibility for the actions of soldiers under his command.

Charges against the general include:

• Complicity to commit genocide
• Extermination, a crime against humanity
• Murder, a crime against humanity
• Violation of the laws or customs of war
• Persecutions, a crime against humanity.

General Krstic is the highest-ranking Bosnian Serb officer currently in custody. The tribunal's chief prosecutor, Louise Arbour, described him as a very significant military leader.

Louise Arbour: A very significant figure

Announcing the arrest, Nato Secretary-General Javier Solana said: "Persons indicted for war crimes who are still at large should realise they, too will be brought to justice."

So far the Tribunal has convicted one suspect for the killings at Srebrenica: Drazen Erdemovic, an ordinary soldier who had confessed to his crimes.