Karadzic Genocide Trial Adjourned to March 1

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic appears in the courtroom of the the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) War Crimes tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands, 03 November 2009. Photo by BGNES

The UN's Yugoslav war crimes court in The Hague has appointed a lawyer for ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and adjourned his genocide trial to 1 March.

Karadzic - who has been representing himself - appeared in court for the first time on Tuesday after boycotting the start of the trial.

He argued that he had insufficient time to prepare his defence and sought a 10-month adjournment, the BBC reported.

Karadzic was arrested in Belgrade in 2008, after nearly 13 years on the run. He was taken to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague last year.

During his time in power, Karadzic was president of the Bosnian-Serb Republika Srpska, and commander of its army during the 1992-1995 Bosnian conflict, which left more than 100,000 people dead.