War crimes fugitive Karadzic writes novel

Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, the top UN war crimes fugitive, has written another novel, a former associate said today as he promoted the book.

Miraculous Chronicles of the Night was completed by Karadzic in August and has “reached the publisher through secret channels as a computer disk,” said former Bosnian Serb information minister Miroslav Toholj.

A book by former President Slobodan Milosevic’s wife, Mirjana Markovic, who fled to Russia following his overthrow in 2000, was also promoted in Belgrade today, illustrating the resurgence of hard-liners and nationalists to Serbia’s political scene in recent months.

Karadzic led Bosnian Serbs during the Bosnian war, and was indicted in 1995 by the UN war crimes tribunal for genocide and crimes against humanity.

Believed to be hiding somewhere in the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia, Karadzic has dodged several attempts by Nato-led peacekeepers to capture him despite a US sponsored £2.7m (€3.9m) reward for information leading to his arrest.

Far from hinting at Karadzic’s current whereabouts, Toholj said that those chasing Karadzic – a psychiatrist and self-styled poet before the war – “will find nothing in the book to help them in their goal.”

“He is far from both his friends and enemies,” Toholj said.

Toholj said the book, describing imaginary events in Sarajevo in the 1980s before the Bosnian war, is also a partial autobiography of Karadzic

While in hiding, Karadzic has written at least two books, one of poetry for children called “There Are Miracles, There Are No Miracles.” Both failed to impress literary critics.