Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic has arrived at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Dr Karadzic landed at Rotterdam airport in the Netherlands shortly after 0600 GMT and was transferred to the court complex where he faces trial on charges of genocide.

"Radovan Karadzic was today transferred in to the Tribunal's custody, after having been at large for more than 13 years," said the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in a statement.

"Karadzic, who was arrested in Serbia on 21 July 2008, has been admitted in the UN Detention Unit in the Hague."

His extradition, under cover of darkness, began at 3.45am - just hours after violent clashes between his supporters and riot police at a rally in Belgrade - when 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 that the extradition had been approved by the Justice Ministry and the Belgrade district court.

After landing in the Netherlands at around 6am he was taken by helicopter the short 15 mile (25km) trip to the Scheveningen detention facility. Amid tight security, it was not clear whether he was transferred in one of the convoy of vehicles that sped from the airport to the UN detention unit or in the police helicopter that made the same trip.

He is expected to be quickly brought before a judge to be given an opportunity to make a plea but no trial is expected for several months. Karadzic faces life imprisonment if found guilty of the 11 genocide and crimes against humanity charges.

He faces a total of 11 charges, including two charges of genocide, 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 an ultra-nationalist rally at which 15,000 hardline supporters protested against his move to The Hague in Belgrade's main Republican 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. Among those injured were 25 police and 19 civilians, including a Spanish and a Serbian journalist.

Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the apparently drunken youths into streets surrounding the square. The violence erupted as ultranationalist Radical Party leader Tomislav Nikolic addressed the crowd. He had called for calm so that protestors could stage a "peaceful march" in Belgrade.

"Do not do it, children, we did not gather for that, we do not want to destroy Belgrade, but (President) Boris Tadic," Nikolic said.

Dr 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 Dr 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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