Wartime Bosnian Serb chief Karadzic claims self defense from Bosnian Muslim fundamentalists

Bosnian Serb leader opens defense against genocide

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic says his people defended themselves against Islamic fundamentalists who started the war in Bosnia to lay claim to the entire country.

Karadzic is giving his opening statement at the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He was arrested in Belgrade 19 months ago after 13 years as a fugitive and faces charges of genocide and war crimes.

Karadzic told the tribunal Monday his cause “is just and holy” and that he has a good case.

He traced the origins of the 1992-95 Bosnian war to the rejection by Bosnia’s Muslim leadership of all power-sharing proposals.

Karadzic is accused of orchestrating a campaign to destroy the Muslim and Croat communities in eastern Bosnia to create an ethnically pure Serbian state.