Radovan Karadzic arrived this morning at the UN detention centre in the The Hague and will appear in court for the first time tomorrow to face war crimes charges.

The former Bosnian Serb leader, who was arrested last week after 12 years on the run, was whisked out of Belgrade in the dead of night following a violent demonstration in Serbia's capital against his extradition.

Dr Karadzic, 63, left the fortified courthouse in Belgrade in a four-car convoy at 3.45am, flying overnight in a Serbian government jet to Rotterdam airport, from where he was transferred by helicopter to the compound for war crime defendants on the Dutch coast.

He will today be read his rights and undergo a medical examination and will appear - now shorn of the long beard his grew for his disguise as a New Age healer - within days in a courtroom to be read the 11 charges against him.

His lawyer, who travelled with him, confirmed that he had not appealed against extradition but had used the suggestion that he had posted an appeal only to delay the transfer so that Dr Karadzic was still in Belgrade for last night's ultra-nationalist rally.

Sveta Vujacic added that his client would postpone entering a formal plea for 30 days, the maximum allowed under court rules, a sign of the delaying tactics he intends to use in the same way as his mentor Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian president who faced genocide charges but died in his cell in 2006 before a verdict could be reached.

Nerma Jelacic, a spokeswoman for the UN tribunal, confirmed his arrival at the detention center outside The Hague. She added: "[The tribunal] will ensure his well-being and right to a fair trial as much as possible and in accordance with the highest international standards."

Serge Brammertz, the chief prosecutor, is due to make a statement this morning. Dr Karadzic has vowed to defend himself in court and it is likely to be several months before his trial begins, taking several years to conclude.

Among the 11 war crimes charges, Dr Karadzic faces two of genocide for allegedly masterminding the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995, and for the 44-month siege of Sarajevo where up to 12,000 died. He also faces charges over the detention of tens of thousands of people in 20 concentration camps where many were tortured, starved and sexually abused during the bloody ethnic conflict of the 1990s.

Belgrade woke up this morning to a city centre littered with glass from shattered shop and car windows, and paving slabs broken up by rioting demonstrators for missiles to throw at police.

The 15,000-strong rally to support Dr Karadzic, organised by the extreme nationalist Radical Party, turned violent after three hours of political speeches when a group of 100 hooligans broke off and attacked riot police with flares, stones and firecrackers.

Police responded with tear gas and in the running battles that erupted and lasted for around an hour, 46 people were injured, including 25 policemen and 21 civilians. Most were lightly injured, doctors said, adding that only one civilian and one policeman were hospitalised. A Spanish TV journalist was among the injured.

The successful transfer of Dr Karadzic to The Hague marks a triumph for the pro-Western government led by President Boris Tadic which aims to begin membership talks with the EU later this year. Serbia needs to demonstrate "full cooperation" with The Hague as a pre-condition for the talks and two suspects, including Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, remain at large.

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