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October 12, 2008 4:04:37 PM CDT

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Karadzic: Poet Turned Monster

Posted Jul 22, 08 7:00 AM CDT in Crime & Courts,  World 

(Newser) – Serbian strongman Radovan Karadzic viewed himself as a high-minded intellectual but his hardline nationalism drove him to become responsible for Europe's most bestial atrocities since the Nazis, writes the Times of London. The former Bosnian leader, now captured after 12 years on the run, was a poet and author and worked as a psychiatrist for years before entering politics.

Karadzic declared himself the leader of Bosnia as Yugoslavia collapsed, triggering a bloody war in which he attempted to "ethnically cleanse" the country of Muslims with a brutal campaign of killing and rape. Atrocities like the slaughter of at least 6,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebenica made him Europe's most wanted man after the war. He remained a folk hero to many Serbs and was protected by 80 fiercely loyal guards during his years on the run.

Sources Times (UK), New York Times

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In this May 1994 file photo, Bosnian Serb Stojan Zupljanin, left, and Radovan Karadzic speak in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.   (AP Photo/Radivoje Pavicic)
Police guard the entrance to the special court in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, July 22, 2008.   (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
In this Sept. 23, 1992 file photo, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic holds a knife he said was seized from Croat soldiers in Bosnia during a news conference in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.   (AP Photo/File)
In this Aug. 10, 1993 file photo, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic waves as he leaves a meeting with U.N. mediators in Geneva.   (AP Photo/Rainer Klostermeier, File)
This is June 1995 file photo of Bosnian Serb Leader Radovan Karadzic as he talks to reporters in Pale, Bosnia. F   (AP Photo)
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Radovan Karadzic Arrested!:Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, one of the world's most wanted men, has been arrested in Serbia after more than a decade on the run.   (Moris88)

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Serbia  • war crimes  • Bosnia  • Radovan Karadzic  • Sarajevo  • ethnic cleansing  • Serbs


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