Karadzic mother dies, aged 83

The mother of top Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic died today, hospital officials said. She was 83.

Jovanka Karadzic died after a short illness in a village close to Niksic, a town 30 miles northwest of Montenegro’s capital Podgorica, said a hospital official in Niksic, Slava Nikolic.

Radovan Karadzic led Serbs in the Bosnian war and was indicted in 1995 by the Netherlands-based UN tribunal for atrocities, including genocide, during the 1992-95 armed conflict with Bosnia’s Muslims and Croats.

Karadzic is the tribunal’s most wanted fugitive and has been on the run since the war ended. He is thought to be hiding in eastern Bosnia.

Radovan Karadzic and his older brother Luka were born in northern Montenegro, where their mother lived. Radovan Karadzic was reported by Montenegrin media to have visited his sick mother several times while in hiding.

Jovanka Karadzic will be buried in Niksic on Saturday. Karadzic was reportedly seen disguised as a Serbian priest at another funeral in eastern Bosnia last year.