Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic is on his way to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

He has arrived at Rotterdam airport in the Netherlands where he faces trial on charges of genocide. Just hours after violent clashes between his supporters and riot police during a rally in Belgrade, a four jeep motorcade left the court building where the former Bosnian Serb leader has been held since his arrest nine days ago and headed towards the airport.. He was escorted by members of Serbia's secret service.

The government said the extradition had been approved by the Justice Ministry and the Belgrade district court.

After landing in the Netherlands he was to be taken by helicopter to the Scheveningen detention facility.

He faces 2 charges of genocide at The Hague for atrocities committed during the 44 month siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo and the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8000 Muslim men and boys.

The transfer followed the ultra-nationalist rally at which 15,000 hardline supporters protested against his move to The Hague in Belgrade's main square. Dozens were injured during the ensuing violence as stone throwing hooligans, said to be members of Red Star Brigade football club, clashed with riot police who replied with rubber bullets and tear gas. Among those injured were 25 police and 19 civilians, including a Spanish and a Serbian journalist.

Karadzic, a hero to Serb hardline nationalists in Bosnia and Serbia, had been on the run for 13 years before he was arrested last week. He had changed his appearance, growing his hair and beard and working as an alternative therapist under an assumed identity.

He had been fighting a legal battle against his transfer to The Hague but his appeal, apparently sent at the last minute on Friday, had not arrived by the end of Monday, said Ivana Ramic, the spokeswoman for its intended recipients at Serbia's war crimes court.

Earlier yesterday, Dusan Ignjatovic, head of the Serbian government office for cooperation with the UN tribunal, expressed doubts about the appeal, which Karadzic's brother Luka has said was sent by regular mail.

"I think there is no appeal, because if it had been filed, it would have arrived at the court by now," he said.

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