Milosevic ally denies war crimes

A former head of Serbia's secret police, Jovica Stanisic, has pleaded not guilty to charges of war crime at the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

"Your honour, I am convinced that I am not guilty," he told the court after five charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity were read out in court.

Mr Stanisic, once a close ally of deposed Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, was handed over to the court on Wednesday by the authorities in Belgrade, where he was arrested following the murder of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic in March.

He is accused by the tribunal of setting up secret paramilitary units involved in an ethnic cleansing campaign against Muslims and Croats between 1991 and 1995.

Correspondents said that Mr Stanisic, 50, looked pale and weary in court, where he appeared in a dark grey suit.

He had been in hospital in Belgrade for intensive medical treatment before being sent to The Hague.

Charges against him include the massacre of 200 hospital patients.

The BBC's Alix Kroeger in The Hague says Mr Stanisic was one of the most powerful and most feared men in the former Yugoslavia.