Radovan Karadzic spoke of his fears of being assassinated in custody and complained about the circumstances of his arrest after listening impassively to the war crimes charges against him today in Court One of the Hague Tribunal.

In an initial hearing lasting just over an hour, Dr Karadzic also defiantly declared that he remained a citizen of all three countries that he once hoped to unite as Greater Serbia.

Looking gaunt and shorn of the full beard that he used as a disguise to live openly in Belgrade, the former Bosnian Serb leader declared that he was in excellent health and refused to enter a plea on 11 counts but used his right to take 30 days to study the indictment against him.

With his hair cut back into a shorter version of the bouffant style that became familiar in the 1990s, but looking greyer than in his hey-day as leader of the self-proclaimed Bosnian Serb republic, there could be no mistaking the identity of the man who listened to the translation of court proceedings on earphones, waiting patiently for a chance to air his complaints about "irregularities" in his arrest.

Dr Karadzic then accused Richard Holbrooke, the US diplomat who brokered the Dayton accords, of striking a deal with him on behalf of the US to guarantee him immunity if he disappeared, a familiar claim and one repeatedly denied by Mr Holbrooke.

Dr Karadzic said he now feared reprisals from Mr Holbrooke, who suggested last week that Dr Karadzic should face the death penalty.

"This is a matter of life and death," said Dr Karadzic. "If Mr Holbrooke wants my death and regrets there is no death sentence here, I wonder if his arm is long enough to reach here."

After reading the charges and his rights, Judge Alphons Orie repeatedly cut Dr Karadzic short and refused to let him read a four-page account of his grievances, or to hand the document over to the court. The judge was clearly keen during this initial sparring to establish his authority and not let proceedings dissovle into the kind of ranting which marred the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian president who died in 2006 before a verdict could be reached.

Dr Karadzic, 63, looked down or sideways and occasionally sipped from a cup as Judge Alphons Orie read him a summary of the charges he faces, including genocide in connection with the ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims in the ethnic conflict of 1992-5, including the massacre of thousands of men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.

Asked if he would appoint legal representative, he mysteriously delcared: "I have an invisible adviser and I am going to represent myself."

Dr Karadzic, wearing a sober dark suit, white shirt and tie, said: "I consider myself to be a national of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Republika Srpska [the autonomus Serb area of Bosnia), Montenegro and Serbia."

Asked whether he wanted anybody informed of his presence in The Hague, he said: "I do not believe there is anyone who does not know that I am in the detention centre."

Dr Karadzic complained about reports that Serge Brammerz, the prosecutor, wants a swift trial. "I have concerns about speed. Speed matters in a showdown with gunslingers but it is out of place in court."

If convicted of genocide, Dr Karadzic would be the first of the 161 indicted suspects to be found guilty by the court of its most serious charge.

The court was adjourned until Friday, August 29, when Dr Karadzic would be expected to enter his pleas to the charges, although Mr Brammertz confirmed he would update the indictment which could delay the plea hearing.

Dr Karadzic's brother was quoted today as saying that the former Bosnian Serb leader had prepared extensively for his defence while in hiding.

"He was well-prepared for his possible arrest and thinks everything will end well, " Luka Karadzic told the Russian daily Izvestia.

The authorities who captured Dr Karadzic had confiscated his laptop and more than 50 discs containing documents prepared for his defence, his brother said, adding that Dr Karadzic "hopes for help from Russian diplomacy".

Marco Gerritsen, the lawyer for a group called The Mothers of Srebrenica, said that survivors of Europe's worst mass murder since World War II had mixed feelings about Dr Karadzic's arrest.

"First, of course they are happy because it is a great step towards justice," he said. "On the other hand, there are still some other people at large, like Ratko Mladic."

He added: "Old wounds get opened and they are confronted with the things that happened in 1995."

Judge Alphons Orie, who read the charges, is the only Dutch member of the 32-strong panel of judges at The Hague. The 60-year-old former criminal lawyer was appointed to the tribunal bench in 2001 after acting as defence attorney for the first defendant, Dusko Tadic, a Bosnian Serb found guilty of crimes against humanity.

Mr Orie, who earns 150,000 euros a year for his role, presided yesterday as the duty judge and the full trial will be heard by a panel of three judges who are yet to be chosen.

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